PRNCETON 


! DWINMNORRIS 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  0£ 
CM-lfQRNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


THE    STORY    OF    PRINCETON 


>Y 


.;. 


The  Main  Entrance  to  the  Graduate  College 


THE 
STORY    OF    PRINCETON 

BY 
EDWIN    MARK    NORRIS 


ILLUSTRATED    FROM    DRAWINGS    BY 

LESTER   G.    HORNBY 


BOSTON 
LITTLE,   BROWN,   AND   COMPANY 

1917 


Copyright,  1917, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved 
Published,  October,  1917 


Jforfoooti  lircss 

Set  up  and  electrotyped  by  J.  S   Gushing  Co.,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
Presswork  by  S.  J.  Parkhill  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

FOR  statements  of  fact  in  this  book  little  claim 
can  be  made  for  novelty  or  originality.  It  draws 
freely  on  the  well-known  sources  of  Princeton  history 
-Professor  V.  L.  Collins's  "Princeton",  President 
John  Maclean's  "History  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey",  Mr.  John  F.  Hageman's  "Princeton  and 
its  Institutions",  Doctor  John  De  Witt's  "Historical 
Sketch  of  Princeton  University",  in  the  "Memorial 
Book  of  the  Sesquicentennial  Celebration",  Professor 
W.  M.  Sloane's  "Life  of  James  McCosh",  the  Pyne- 
Henry  documents,  the  voluminous  "  Princetoniana  " 
collected  by  Professor  William  Libbey,  and  the  other 
Princeton  Collections  in  the  Princeton  University 
Library,  the  files  of  The  Princeton  Alumni  Weekly, 
and  numerous  other  sources.  To  the  authors,  com- 
pilers, and  collectors  of  all  these  sources,  without 
whose  researches  and  painstaking  labors  this  volume 
would  have  been  well-nigh  impossible,  grateful  ac- 
knowledgments are  made;  and  especially  to  Profes- 
sor Collins's  admirably  compact  yet  comprehensive 
"Princeton." 

While  it  has  been  the  endeavor  to  omit  nothing 
that  is  essential  in  a  historical  sketch,  this  book 


PREFACE 

aims  also  to  present  and  preserve  some  of  the  more 
characteristic  traditions  and  anecdotes  that  through 
two  centuries  have  gathered  about  the  name  of 
Princeton.  If  to  those  in  whom  the  mention  of 
that  name  stirs  the  imagination  and  quickens  the 
emotions  the  story  told  in  these  pages  seems  incom- 
plete, for  them  it  cannot  be  more  inadequate  than 
for  one  who  during  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
has  been  intimately  associated  with  their  Alma 
Mater  and  his  own ;  and  who  shares  the  disappoint- 
ment that  all  must  in  some  measure  experience 
who  aspire  to  tell  her  story.  And  if  to  any  who 
owe  no  allegiance  to  Princeton  the  point  of  view 
may  sometimes  seem  prejudiced,  the  charge  is  can- 
didly admitted  by  one  whose  prejudice  springs  from 
a  reverence  for  which  he  offers  no  apology  and  no 

defense. 

E.  M.  N. 

PRINCETON,  May  i,  1917. 


VI 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


MOM 


PREFACE    ........          v 

I.      WHEN  WE  LIVED  UNDER  THE  KING       .          .  I 

II.      PRINCETON'S   PART  IN  THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NATION        70 

III.  THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR       .  .no 

IV.  DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION  .          .142 
V.      THE  GREAT  AWAKENING      .                    .  •      !94 

VI.     THE  UNIVERSITY         ....                    .224 
INDEX  z63 


vii 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Main  Entrance  to  the  Graduate  College         .     Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

Nassau  Hall        .........  16 

Marquand  Chapel       ........  32 

Lower  Pyne        .........  48 

Murray-Dodge  Hall    ........  64 

The  University  Library 80 

Blair  Hall 96 

Little  Hall 112 

The  School  of  Science         .         .         ...         .         .         .128 

The  FitzRandolph  Gateway        ......  144 

Presidents'  Row.     Stone  Marking  the  Grave  of  Colonel 

Aaron  Burr 158 

Holder  Hall  and  Tower       .         .         .         .         .         .         .176 

In  the  Great  Hall  of  the  Graduate  College          .         .         .     192 
The  Cleveland  Memorial  Tower         .         .  .         .     208 

The  Gymnasium         ........     226 

University  Boat  House 240 


THE  STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

CHAPTER  I 

WHEN    WE    LIVED    UNDER   THE    KING 

TO  the  modern  Princeton  graduate,  and  partic- 
ularly to  the  boy  coming  up  to  the  university, 
just  let  loose  from  the  strict  discipline  of  school  and  for 
the  first  time  eagerly  breathing  the  free  atmosphere 
of  the  campus,  loitering  at  will  under  the  ancient 
elms,  and  learning  to  adapt  himself  to  the  old  cus- 
toms and  traditions  which  have  gradually  accumu- 
lated through  nearly  a  century  and  three  quarters, 
the  year  1746,  the  date  of  the  founding  of  his  college, 
seems  lost  in  the  hazy  remoteness  of  antiquity ;  but 
even  before  that  far-away  date  the  village  of  Prince- 
ton, whose  history  is  so  inseparably  interwoven  with 
that  of  the  university  which  has  given  its  name 
world-wide  fame,  was  beginning  to  be  a  place  of 
some  consequence  in  the  middle  colonies.  Before  the 
eighteenth  century  was  half  spent,  when  the  Second 
George  was  still  on  the  throne,  and  more  than  a 
decade  before  the  genius  of  the  elder  Pitt  had  brought 

1 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

the  British  Empire  to  its  highest  ascendancy,  the 
colonial  settlement  at  Princeton  could  look  back 
half  a  century  to  its  beginnings.  For  in  1696  several 
families,  the  Stocktons,  Clarkes,  Oldens,  Worths, 
Homers,  and  Fitz  Randolphs,  many  of  whose  de- 
scendants were  destined  to  play  an  important  part 
not  only  in  Princeton's  history  but  in  the  history  of 
the  nation,  had  purchased  large  tracts  of  land  from 
William  Penn  and  established  a  frontier  hamlet 
with  its  grist  mill  and  meetinghouse  at  Stony  Brook. 
The  progress  that  had  been  made  in  settling  the 
country  in  those  fifty  years  is  indicated  by  an  old 
journal  which  has  come  down  to  us,  telling  of  a 
journey  through  Princeton  made  by  the  chronicler, 
Professor  Kalm  of  the  University  of  Abo  in  Swedish 
Finland.  Passing  through  Princeton  in  1748,  two 
years  after  the  college  was  founded,  but  eight  years 
before  it  moved  to  Princeton,  Professor  Kalm  de- 
scribed his  journey  from  Trenton  :  "I  never  saw  any 
place  in  America  the  towns  excepted,  so  well  peopled." 
There  were  "very  extensive  corn  fields  on  both  sides 
of  the  road,  and  near  almost  every  farm  was  a  spa- 
cious orchard  full  of  peaches  and  apple  trees  in  such 
quantities  as  to  cover  nearly  the  whole  surface." 
It  was  doubtless  that  overproduction  of  apples  which 
suggested  to  the  thrifty  inhabitants  the  turning  of 
the  surplus  to  some  profitable  and  exhilarating  pur- 
pose, and  established  so  early  their  fame  in  the  pro- 
duction and  consumption  of  "Jersey  lightning." 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE  KING 

The  chronicler  also  records  that  "whenever  we  passed 
by  we  were  always  welcomed  to  go  into  the  fine 
orchards  and  gather  our  pockets  full  of  the  choicest 
fruit  without  the  possessor  so  much  as  looking  after 
it."  This,  it  should  be  remembered,  was  before  the 
undergraduates  came  to  Princeton.  Later  genera- 
tions found  the  possessor  of  "choicest  fruit"  not  so 
complacent. 

"About  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,"  Professor 
Kalm  continues,  "we  came  to  Princetown  which  is 
situated  in  a  plain.  Most  of  the  houses  are  built  of 
wood  and  are  not  contiguous,  so  that  there  are  gardens 
and  pastures  between  them." 

The  settlement  at  Stony  Brook  had  gradually 
extended  eastward.  "Drumthwacket  Lodge",  on 
the  estate  of  M.  Taylor  Pyne  '77,  still  stands  over- 
looking the  King's  Highway,  an  ancient  landmark  of 
the  easterly  movement,  which  at  the  opening  of  the 
eighteenth  century  culminated  in  the  stately  home- 
stead of  the  Stocktons,  "Morven",  which  now  for 
more  than  two  centuries  has  exemplified  the  charm 
of  our  native  colonial  architecture. 

In  the  decade  preceding  the  settlement  at  Stony 
Brook,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  present  borough 
limits  and  extending  to  Kingston  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  main  highway,  at  the  place  later  known  as 
"Castle  Howard"  (opposite  the  present  site  of  the 
Princeton  Preparatory  School),  Captain  Henry 
Greenland  had  established  his  plantation  as  early 

3 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

as  1681  —  and  had  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the 
colonial  legislature  by  being  instrumental  in  dis- 
solving the  assembly  of  that  year.  He  had  been 
declared  "incapable  to  bear  any  office  or  charge  of 
public  trust  in  the  province,  or  serve  as  a  member  of 
council  or  House  of  Assembly  without  the  consent 
of  the  General  Assembly."  This  Captain  Green- 
land was  probably  the  first  white  settler  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Princeton.  Though  we  know  little  else 
about  him,  his  disregard  of  the  mandates  of  the 
colonial  proprietors  foreshadowed  that  spirit  of  in- 
dependence which  characterized  Princeton  nearly  a 
century  later.  "Castle  Howard",  now  the  home  of 
Alfred  T.  Baker,  '85,  was  built  and  occupied  before 
the  Revolution  by  Captain  William  Howard  of  the 
British  Army.  During  the  Revolution,  Captain 
Howard,  an  ardent  Whig,  was  incapacitated  for  active 
service,  being  confined  to  his  room  with  gout.  His 
wife,  loyal  to  the  Crown,  was  accustomed  to  entertain 
the  British  officers  whom  the  varying  fortunes  of  the 
war  brought  to  Princeton.  The  old  soldier,  forced 
to  overhear  the  unwelcome  conversation  of  his 
spouse's  visitors,  had  painted  over  his  mantel  in 
large  letters  the  laconic  mandate  "No  TORY  TALK 
HERE." 

From  "Castle  Howard"  on  the  east  to  Stony 
Brook  on  the  west,  the  early  settlements  became  by 
gradual  accretions  the  colonial  village  of  Princeton, 
strung  out  along  the  original  highway.  Nassau 

4 


Street,  whose  undulating  surface  has  at  last  given 
way  to  modern  paving,  has  in  turn  furnished  a  path 
of  varying  civilization,  a  path  which  loses  itself  in 
the  unrecorded  traditions  of  the  past.  Once  merely 
Main  Street,  before  that  the  Broad  Street,  still 
earlier  the  King's  Highway,  it  was  originally  an 
Indian  trail,  connecting  the  head  of  navigation  on 
the  Raritan  Canal  at  New  Brunswick  with  the  head 
of  navigation  on  the  Delaware  at  Trenton.  Along 
this  ancient  trail,  now  the  scene  of  spectacular 
alumni  and  undergraduate  parades,  the  great  Chief 
Tamenund,  a  name  still  preserved  in  corrupted  form 
in  Tammany  Hall  of  New  York,  led  his  Delaware 
Indians  back  and  forth  between  the  two  rivers,  as 
did  his  predecessors  long  before  the  white  man  trod 
these  shores. 

Among  all  the  American  universities,  Princeton  is 
unique  in  the  mystery  that  enshrouds  the  origin  of 
the  name  which  caps  the  climax  of  her  rocket  cheer. 
That  the  town  gave  its  name  to  the  university  does 
not  explain  its  origin ;  no  more  does  the  entry  made 
in  his  journal  in  1758  by  Nathaniel  Fitz  Randolph, 
the  donor  of  the  original  campus:  "Princeton  first 
named  at  the  raising  of  the  first  house  built  there 
by  James  Leonard,  A.D.  1724."  This  is  probably 
an  authentic  record  of  the  first  use  of  the  name  on 
a  legal  document,  the  agreement  to  build  the  house 
referred  to  —  but  why  the  place  was  named  Prince- 
ton, Fitz  Randolph  does  not  explain. 

5 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Early  deeds  refer  to  the  colonial  village  variously 
as  Prince's  Town,  Princetown,  and  Princeton ; 
and  there  is  a  tradition  that  the  significant  part  of 
the  name  was  bestowed  in  honor  of  King  William 
III,  Prince  of  Orange  and  Nassau,  who  was  held 
in  affectionate  memory  in  the  colonies,  and  for  whom 
Nassau  Hall  was  named.  Though  the  college  colors 
came  much  later,  and  historically  are  not  traceable 
to  the  same  source,  to  Princetonians  it  would  be 
gratifying  to  commemorate  their  "Patron  Saint"  in 
both  the  name  and  the  insignia  of  their  Alma  Mater,  as 
well  as  in  their  first  and  most  cherished  college  building. 

A  more  probable  explanation  is  that  the  village 
of  Kingston,  three  miles  to  the  eastward,  having 
been  named  before  Princeton,  the  idea  of  royal 
affinities  was  preserved  in  the  names  that  became 
attached  to  the  settlements  along  the  King's  High- 
way ;  for,  following  the  order  of  royal  rank,  came 
Kingston,  then  Queenston,  then  Princeton,  and 
finally  Princessville.  The  second  of  these  settle- 
ments became  in  the  course  of  time  a  part  of  Prince- 
ton, and  acquired  from  an  irreverent  generation  the 
alias  of  Jugtown.  Henry  Clow,  for  many  years 
steward  of  the  college,  and  also  mayor  and  alderman 
of  the  borough,  in  his  reminiscences  of  Princeton 
in  1850,  expressed  the  pious  hope  that  "at  no 
distant  day,  Princeton,  Queenston,  and  Kingston 
may  be  united,  and  hereafter  receive  the  name  of 
the  Royal  City.'-' 

6 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

Princeton  was  the  fourth  college  founded  on 
North  American  soil,  Harvard  and  Yale  in  New 
England  and  William  and  Mary  in  Virginia  having 
preceded  her.  Between  these  widely  separate  edu- 
cational establishments  in  the  north  and  south  lay 
the  middle  colonies,  whose  growing  population  was 
without  advantages  of  the  higher  education.  There 
is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  the  demand  for 
another  college  in  the  middle  colonies  was  not  en- 
tirely on  account  of  the  distance  to  existing  institu- 
tions. As  Mr.  Arthur  Stanwood  Pier  has  pointed 
out  in  "  The  Story  of  Harvard  ",  when  Whitefield, 
the  English  evangelist,  visited  the  colonies,  he  was 
shocked  at  the  dissipated  habits  of  the  Harvard 
students,  and  the  several  Yale  graduates  who  were 
leaders  in  establishing  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
must  have  been  out  of  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of 
the  authorities  of  the  New  Haven  institution,  a 
spirit  illustrated  by  the  arbitrary  expulsion  of  the 
devout  David  Brainefd  for  a  chance  and  quite  un- 
important remark  in  private  conversation,  which 
reflected  on  the  sincerity  of  a  tutor. 

The  first  impulse  for  the  establishment  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  came  from  a  group  of  Pres- 
byterian ministers  and  laymen  of  the  Synod  of 
New  Yorkj-farseeing  men  who  appreciated  the  need 
of  an  institution  of  higher  learning  in  the  middle 
colonies.  The  first  account  of  the  college,  published 
in  1752,  records  that  it  owed  its  existence  to  "sev- 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

eral  gentlemen  residing  in  and  near  the  Province  of 
New  Jersey  who  were  well-wishers  to  the  Felicity 
of  their  Country,  &  real  Friends  of  Religion  and 
Learning,  and  who  had  observed  the  vast  Increase 
of  these  Colonies,  with  the  Rudeness,  and  Ignorance 
of  their  inhabitants  for  want  of  the  Necessary  means 
of  Improvement." 

The  increasing  population  demanded  an  intel- 
lectual center,  and  unquestionably  there  was  in  the 
minds  of  the  founders  not  merely  a  school  for  the 
training  of  ministers,  nor  merely  a  local  institution, 
but  an  institution  of  nation-wide  service.  There 
were  already  several  schools  established  in  the  middle 
colonies,  some  of  which  were  to  unite  their  currents 
in  the  larger  stream  proceeding  from  Princeton. 
The  Reverend  Jonathan  Dickinson,  a  graduate  of 
Yale  and  pastor  at  Elizabeth  Town,  had  gathered 
about  him  a  few  students  for  the  ministry,  and 
another  Yale  graduate,  the  Reverend  Aaron  Burr, 
had  a  similar  class  at  Newark,  where  he  was 
pastor.  And  at  the  forks  of  the  Neshaminy  in 
Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  the  Log  College  had 
been  in  existence  for  nearly  twenty  years  under  the 
vigorous  sway  of  the  Reverend  William  Tennent, 
who  had  renounced  the  established  Church  of  Ire- 
land and  emigrated  with  his  four  sons  to  America. 
Other  schools  which  contributed  their  quota  of 
students  to  the  infant  college  were  those  of  the 
Reverend  Samuel  Blair  at  Faggs  Manor,  Pennsyl- 

8 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

vania,  and  the  Reverend  Samuel  Finley  at  Notting- 
ham, Maryland. 

By  far  the  most  famous  of  these  early  schools 
was  the  Log  College,  which,  though  no  evidence  of 
an  organic  connection  between  it  and  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  has  as  yet  been  discovered,  was  in  a 
very  real  sense  the  forerunner  of  Princeton.  Its 
founder,  the  Reverend  William  Tennent,  a  graduate 
of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  distinguished  alike 
for  his  religious  zeal,  his  learning,  and  his  vigorous 
leadership,  was  foremost  in  advocating  independence 
of  Great  Britain  and  New  England  in  the  matter  of 
an  educated  ministry  for  the  middle  colonies ;  and 
to  his  unchartered  school  many  of  the  leaders  of  the 
early  American  Presbyterian  Church  owed  their 
education. 

The  Battle  of  Princeton  in  1777  was  by  no  means 
the  first  nor  yet  the  last  battle  of  Princeton.  Prince- 
ton men  have  always  been  willing,  and  sometimes 
eager,  to  fight  for  their  convictions.  Their  fighting 
spirit  is  famous,  whether  in  the  intellectual  coun- 
cils of  the  university  or  on  the  athletic  field,  and 
Princeton  began  very  appropriately  with  a  fight. 

The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  (then  the  only  synod  in 
the  colonies),  dissatisfied  with  the  educational  stand- 
ards of  the  Log  College,  passed  a  rule  that  no  can- 
didate for  orders  who  did  not  hold  a  degree  from 
Harvard  or  Yale  or  a  European  university  should 
be  licensed  by  a  Presbytery  until  his  educational 

9 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

fitness  had  been  approved  by  a  committee  from  the 
synod.  This  started  the  fight.  For  while  the  rule 
would  undoubtedly  result  in  raising  educational 
standards,  it  was  a  blow  at  the  Log  College  and  was 
naturally  resented  by  the  men  of  that  institution. 
The  synod  was  split  into  two  groups,  the  "New 
Side",  led  by  the  Log  College  men,  and  particularly 
by  the  fiery  Gilbert  Tennent,  son  of  the  head  of 
the  school  on  the  Neshaminy,  and  the  "Old  Side", 
the  conservative  group  entrenched  chiefly  in  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  Between  the  two  stood 
a  group  of  men  in  the  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
the  leaders  in  the  founding  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  such  as  the  Reverend  Jonathan  Dickinson 
of  Elizabeth,  the  Reverend  Aaron  Burr  of  Newark, 
the  Reverend  Ebenezer  Pemberton  of  New  York, 
and  the  Reverend  John  Pierson  of  Woodbury. 

The  fight  was  brought  to  a  climax  when,  in  de- 
fiance of  the  synod's  ruling,  a  Log  College  graduate 
was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick. 
He  was  promptly  ordered  by  the  synod  to  submit  to 
an  examination,  and  the  conduct  of  the  presbytery 
was  denounced  as  "very  disorderly."  The  arrival 
of  the  Reverend  George  Whitefield,  the  famous 
revivalist,  to  whose  support  the  Log  College  men 
promptly  came,  added  fuel  to  the  fire.  The  New 
Brunswick  Presbytery  remaining  obdurate,  it  was 
practically  denied  its  right  to  sit  in  the  synod, 
whereupon  its  members  withdrew  in  high  dudgeon. 

10 


WHEN  WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE    KING 

The  New  York  Presbytery,  though  it  had  been  able 
to  keep  free  from  entangling  alliances  in  the  battle 
of  theologians,  had  sympathized  with  the  New 
Brunswick  division,  and  after  failing  in  its  efforts 
as  peacemaker,  finally  withdrew  from  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia  and  joined  in  organizing  the  Synod  of 
New  York. 

While  this  controversy  was  raging,  members  of 
the  New  York  Presbytery,  notably  Dickinson, 
Pemberton,  and  Burr,  had  as  early  as  1739  pro- 
jected "a  school  or  seminary  of  learning."  This 
project,  however,  had  been  delayed  in  realization 
by  the  conflict  described  above,  which  is  known  as 
the  Great  Schism  in  the  history  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Church. 

The  project  of  an  adequate  college,  however,  was 
not  defeated,  but  only  deferred.  And  the  Great 
Schism  had  the  enormously  valuable  result  of  free- 
ing Princeton  of  ecclesiastic  control  and  of  de- 
nominational partisanship. 

But  it  was  by  no  means  clear  sailing.  For  when, 
in  the  winter  of  1745-1746,  application  for  a  charter 
was  made  to  Lewis  Morris,  the  royal  governor  of 
the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  he  declined  to  grant 
the  request ;  for  Governor  Morris  was  a  zealous  ad- 
herent of  the  Anglican  Church  and  resented  the 
growth  of  the  nonconformists. 

The  Log  College  had  been  without  a  charter, 
and,  failing  in  this  all-important  grant,  the  new  in- 

11 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

stitution  would  be  on  no  firmer  a  foundation.  But 
Governor  Morris  was  old  —  and  no  doubt  the  pro- 
jectors of  the  college  regarded  his  death,  soon  after 
he  refused  the  charter,  as  almost  providential. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  John  Hamilton,  who,  as  President 
of  the  Provincial  Council,  succeeded  Governor  Mor- 
ris temporarily,  was  of  no  such  narrow  mind,  al- 
though Hamilton  was  also  an  Anglican.  The  pe- 
titioners lost  no  time  in  presenting  to  him  a  draft  of 
a  charter  for  a  college,  and  he  promptly  brought  the 
application  before  his  Council.  Having  gained  the 
assent  of  that  body,  Acting  Governor  Hamilton 
granted  the  request  of  his  petitioners,  and  the  first 
charter  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  passed  the 
great  seal  of  the  province  on  October  22,  1746- 
a  formality  which  established  the  official  date  of 
Princeton's  founding.  October  22  is  accordingly 
designated,  and  sometimes  celebrated,  as  Com- 
memoration Day. 

To  John  Hamilton,  Princeton  owes  the  formal 
action  which  made  her  existence  possible.  It  was 
appropriate  therefore  that  one  of  the  group  of 
buildings  erected  in  the  last  few  years  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  campus  should  have  been  named 
Hamilton  Hall  in  his  honor. 

The  charter  was  immediately  attacked,  and, 
Acting  Governor  Hamilton  having  died  the  fol- 
lowing June,  the  attack  was  vigorously  pressed  on 
the  ground  that  Governor  Morris's  successor,  Jona- 

12 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

than  Belcher,  had  already  received  his  royal  appoint- 
ment when  the  charter  was  granted  by  Hamilton. 

Governor  Belcher  was  in  London  at  the  time  of 
his  appointment,  and  a  shortage  of  funds  prevented 
him  from  coming  over  at  once  to  qualify  under  his 
commission.  His  arrival,  however,  in  October, 
1747,  brought  little  consolation  to  those  opposing 
the  establishment  of  a  college  independent  of  the 
Anglican  Church.  For  he  at  once  showed  himself 
an  eager  friend  of  the  project. 

Enough  is  known  of  the  first  charter  from  con- 
temporary newspapers  to  permit  us  to  summarize 
its  essential  provisions.  At  least  four  of  the  pe- 
titioners are  definitely  known,  namely,  the  Reverend 
Jonathan  Dickinson,  John  Pierson,  Ebenezer  Pem- 
berton,  and  Aaron  Burr,  and  these  and  three  laymen 
were  named  as  trustees,  the  laymen  being  William 
Smith,  William  Pcartree  Smith,  and  Peter  Van 
Brugh  Livingston.  Four  or  more  of  these  seven 
were  empowered  "to  chuse  five  more  trustees,  to 
the  exercise  of  equal  power  and  authority  in  the 
said  college  with  themselves."  The  full  number  of 
twelve  was  soon  completed  by  the  election  of  the 
Reverends  Gilbert  Tennent,  William  Tennent,  Sam- 
uel Blair,  Samuel  Finley,  and  Richard  Treat.  Four 
of  these  five  were  Log  College  men,  and  Richard 
Treat,  a  Yale  graduate,  lived  at  Abington,  near  the 
Log  College.  This  is  a  significant  point  in  Prince- 
ton's history,  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  the 

13 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Log  College  went  out  of  existence  in  May,  1746,  or 
five  months  before  the  founding  of  Princeton.  It 
seems  entirely  probable  that  there  was  an  under- 
standing that  the  Log  College  men  would  be  placed 
on  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  new  institution,  but 
in  any  case  it  is  a  fact  that  the  prestige  and  strength 
of  that  early  institution  were  absorbed  in  the  newly 
founded  College  of  New  Jersey. 

The  board  of  trustees  was  made  a  self-perpet- 
uating corporation  and  was  given  power  to  receive 
bequests,  grant  degrees,  erect  buildings,  constitute 
a  faculty  and  other  offices,  and  establish  college 
laws.  The  most  significant  provision  of  the  charter 
was  one  which  guaranteed  religious  freedom  to  the 
students  of  the  institution  —  the  first  provision  of 
that  kind  in  any  charter  of  an  American  college. 
This  guarantee  was  contained  in  the  clause  "that  no 
person  be  debarred  any  of  the  privileges  of  the  said 
college  on  account  of  any  speculative  difference  of 
religion  ;  but  those  of  every  religious  profession  hav- 
ing equal  privileges  and  advantages  of  education  in 
the  said  college." 

By  incorporating  this  provision  in  the  charter, 
Princeton's  founders  showed  how  high  were  their 
aspirations  for  the  college  of  their  creation  —  an 
institution  subservient  to  no  ecclesiastical  founda- 
tion, but  devoted  to  the  service  of  all  the  youth  of 
the  country.  It  was  a  signal  mark  of  the  broad 
scope  and  high  service  which  they  cherished  for 

14 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE  KING 

the  college  that  in  an  age  of  ecclesiastical  intoler- 
ance, of  which  as  individuals  they  were  not  entirely 
free,  they  sacrificed  their  own  personal  convictions 
for  the  good  of  the  institution. 

The  trustees  elected  Jonathan  Dickinson  the  first 
president  and  Caleb  Smith  the  first  tutor,  and  the 
college  was  opened  in  Elizabeth  Town,  where  Mr. 
Dickinson  was  pastor.  Hatfield's  "History  of  Eliza- 
beth" records  that  the  first  term  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  was  opened  in  the  fourth  week  of  May, 
1747,  in  the  house  of  the  first  president,  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  "on  the  south  side  of  the  old  Rahway 
Road  directly  west  of  Race  Street."  No  stately 
ceremony  distinguished  that  humble  beginning  of 
Princeton's  life  one  hundred  and  seventy  years  ago. 
Mr.  Dickinson's  little  band  of  pupils,  with  perhaps 
a  few  additions  gathered  in  from  the  neighborhood 
round  about,  simply  continued  their  studies  under 
the  new  and  formal  organization :  and  save  for  the 
potentialities  of  the  charter,  and  the  aspirations  of 
the  founders,  truly  there  was  not  very  much  to 
boast  of.  There  were  no  campus,  no  buildings,  no 
endowment;  the  faculty  consisted  of  only  the 
president  and  the  lone  tutor,  there  was  no  alumni 
body,  and  the  undergraduate  registration  numbered 
not  more  than  a  score. 

Dickinson's  students  lived  in  private  houses  in 
the  village  and  went  to  the  parsonage  for  their 
recitations.  That  is  all  we  know  about  the  college 

15 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

life  during  the  five  months  in  Elizabeth  Town.  But 
we  know  that  the  students  must  have  been  "diligent 
at  their  proper  Business"  during  those  five  months, 
and  for  many  months  before  the  organization  under 
the  charter,  for  a  year  after  that  event  there  was  a 
class  of  six  ready  for  graduation. 

Jonathan  Dickinson  was  the  obvious  choice  for 
Princeton's  first  president.  A  zealous  leader  in 
the  establishment  of  the  college,  his  little  school 
could  give  it  the  beginning  of  an  undergraduate 
body,  and  his  established  reputation  as  preacher 
and  public-spirited  citizen  would  bring  prestige  to 
the  enterprise.  Born  in  Massachusetts  in  1688,  he 
had  been  graduated  at  eighteen  under  Yale's  first 
president,  and,  settled  at  Elizabeth  Town  as  pastor, 
had  plunged  into  the  pioneer  life  of  the  colony  with 
prodigious  industry.  Famed  for  his  preaching,  in 
theology  he  was  a  formidable  controversialist,  but 
his  talents  were  not  reserved  exclusively  for  the 
instruction  of  youth  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  To 
his  exacting  labors  as  pastor  and  college  president 
this  versatile  man  added  not  only  the  practice  of 
law  but  also  that  of  medicine.  What  with  his  teach- 
ing and  other  labors  for  the  newly  founded  college, 
his  preaching,  his  pastoral  work,  his  vindication  of 
theological  convictions,  his  legal  and  medical  prac- 
tice, there  could  have  been  for  him  but  few  hours 
in  the  twenty-four  for  much  needed  rest,  and  none 
for  recreation  ;  no  marvel  that  his  overtaxed  strength 

16 


Xassan  Hall 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

was  unable  to  withstand  the  attack  of  pleurisy  to 
which  he  succumbed  October  7,  1747  —  only  a  little 
over  four  months  after  the  opening  of  the  college. 

To  Harvard,  Yale,  and  the  Log  College,  Princeton 
owes  much  for  its  founding.  All  but  one  of  the  seven 
original  trustees  were  Yale  graduates,  and  the  other, 
Ebenezer  Pemberton,  the  New  York  clergyman, 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard.  Another  Yale  gradu- 
ate was  among  the  five  added  to  fill  up  the  full  num- 
ber of  the  board,  namely,  Richard  Treat,  while 
the  other  four,  the  Reverends  Gilbert  Tennent,  Wil- 
liam Tennent,  Samuel  Blair,  and  Samuel  Finley. 
had  received  their  education  at  the  Log  College. 

In  addition  to  Mr.  Pemberton,  the  college  found 
an  ardent  supporter  in  another  Harvard  graduate, 
Governor  Jonathan  Belcher.  Immediately  upon 
his  arrival  in  the  colony,  Governor  Belcher  pro- 
posed to  grant  a  second  charter,  to  correct  the  al- 
leged faults  of  the  Hamilton  grant,  and  the  new 
Governor  also  urged  the  selection  of  a  permanent 
location  for  the  college.  He  agreed  with  the  Log 
College  men  in  favoring  Princeton,  "as  near  the 
center  of  the  province  as  any  and  a  fine  situation." 
He  also  urged  the  collection  of  money  for  the  support 
of  the  college  and  proposed  a  lottery  for  that  purpose. 

Belcher  set  about  framing  a  more  ample  charter, 
which  was  granted  September  14,  1748,  and  still 
remains  the  organic  law  of  the  university.  It 
significantly  confirmed  the  undenominational  priv- 

17 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

ileges  of  the  first  charter  with  "free  and  equal 
Liberty  and  Advantage  of  Education  in  the  said  Col- 
lege, any  different  Sentiments  on  Religion  notwith- 
standing." And  it  also  confirmed  the  first  charter 
in  providing  for  instruction  "in  the  Learned  Lan- 
guages and  in  the  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences." 

The  number  of  trustees  was  increased  to  twenty- 
three,  and  the  nonsectarian  and  nonsectional  char- 
acter of  the  institution  was  emphasized  by  elect- 
ing to  the  board  members  of  the  Presbyterian, 
Welsh  Calvinist,  Episcopal,  and  Dutch  Reformed 
Churches,  and  of  the  Society  of  Friends ;  thirteen 
of  the  trustees  were  from  New  Jersey,  six  from 
Pennsylvania,  and  four  from  New  York ;  nine  Avere 
graduates  of  Yale,  four  of  Harvard,  and  three  of 
the  Log  College ;  eleven,  including  the  Governor, 
were  laymen,  and  twelve  were  clergymen.  All  of 
the  original  trustees  were  reappointed  except  Presi- 
dent Dickinson,  who  had  died,  and  Samuel  Finley, 
who  had  resigned. 

Representation  on  the  board  from  the  important 
colonies  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  together 
with  the  location  of  the  college  at  Princeton,  midway 
between  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  not  only  at- 
tracted substantial  support  outside  of  New  Jersey, 
but  gave  to  the  college  an  impetus  toward  the 
national  sphere  which  it  was  to  fill.  On  the  side 
of  the  curriculum,  the  college  was  committed  to  a 
broad  scheme  of  liberal  studies  —  the  stadium 

18 


WHEN  WE   LIVED   UNDER   THE   KING 

generate    to    which    it    has    adhered    with    singular 
faithfulness  ever  since. 

From  its  beginning,  therefore,  Princeton  was 
planned  as  a  national  university,  nonsectarian  and 
independent  of  Church  and  State,  devoted  to  a  broad 
programme  of  liberal  studies,  and  free  to  manage  its 
own  affairs,  elect  its  own  officers,  and  administer  its 
own  laws. 

On  the  death  of  Jonathan  Dickinson,  the  Rev- 
erend Aaron  Burr  was  elected  the  second  president, 
and  the  little  band  of  students  migrated  to  Newark, 
where  Burr  was  pastor.  The  first  Commencement 
was  held  in  Newark  on  November  9,  1748,  having 
been  postponed  from  time  to  time  from  the  date 
originally  set  for  it,  May,  1748.  After  the  election 
of  the  new  president,  the  board  adjourned  to  attend 
Commencement. 

Although  the  graduating  class  numbered  only  six, 
the  occasion  lacked  nothing  of  academic  dignity. 
The  little  procession  was  composed  of  the  six  candi- 
dates for  degrees,  walking  in  pairs  and  uncovered, 
followed  by  the  trustees,  with  the  slight  but  dig- 
nified young  president  and  the  portly,  rubicund 
Governor  bringing  up  the  rear.  The  academic  pro- 
cession moved  from  the  parsonage  to  the  church, 
entering  the  latter  in  inverted  order.  At  the  door, 
the  graduating  class  and  trustees  formed  two  lines 
through  which  the  Governor  and  the  president 
entered  the  building,  while  the  bell  rang. 

19 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

The  first  Commencement  exercises  began  with 
prayer  by  the  president,  after  which  the  morning 
session  was  devoted  to  the  reading  of  "His  Majesty's 
Royal  Charter,  granted  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey."  The  audience  stood  through- 
out the  reading  of  the  document.  At  two  in  the 
afternoon,  after  another  academic  procession  to 
the  church  President  Burr  delivered  his  inaugural 
address,  a  Latin  oration  on  the  value  of  liberal  learn- 
ing. He  laid  special  emphasis  upon  the  provision 
in  the  charter  granting  free  and  equal  liberty  and 
advantages  of  education  to  all,  regardless  of  re- 
ligious sentiments,  a  provision  by  which,  as  Burr 
said,  the  axe  was  laid  to  the  root  of  bigotry.  Then 
followed  Latin  disputations  by  the  graduating 
class,  in  which  six  questions  in  philosophy  and 
theology  were  solemnly  debated.  After  these  learned 
discussions,  the  president  presented  the  candidates 
to  the  trustees,  inquiring  (in  Latin)  whether  the 
young  men  should  receive  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts.  Governor  Belcher,  as  spokesman  of  the 
board,  replying  in  the  affirmative,  thereupon  the 
degrees  were  conferred  with  due  ceremony. 

Princeton's  first  honorary  degree  was  very  ap- 
propriately conferred  at  this  first  Commencement 
upon  Governor  Belcher,  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts.  The  exercises  closed  with  a  Latin  oration 
by  Daniel  Thane  of  the  graduating  class,  a  eulogy 
of  the  liberal  arts,  and  an  expression  of  gratitude  to 

20 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE  KING 

his  Excellency,  the  Governor,  to  the  trustees,  and 
to  the  president  —  the  first  valedictory. 

After  the  Commencement  exercises  the  trustees 
held  another  meeting,  at  which  the  college  seal  was 
adopted  and  the  college  laws  enacted. 

Of  the  six  members  of  Princeton's  first  graduating 
class,  the  class  of  1748,  five  became  clergymen  and 
one  a  lawyer.  As  alphabetical  order  in  awarding 
diplomas  was  the  practice  then  as  it  has  been  ever 
since,  Princeton's  first  graduate  was  undoubtedly 
the  Reverend  Enos  Ayres.  He  was  probably  a 
native  of  Elizabethtown.  After  receiving  his  de- 
gree from  the  college,  he  was  ordained  by  the  New 
York  Presbytery  in  1750  and  spent  his  life  as  pastor 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Blooming  Grove,  in 
Orange  County,  New  York.  He  died  in  1762  and 
was  buried  beneath  the  church  edifice,  where,  after 
a  century  and  three  quarters,  his  grave  was  identified 
in  1912. 

The  most  distinguished  member  of  the  first  class 
was  the  one  layman,  Richard  Stockton,  who  was  the 
son  of  John  Stockton  and  was  born  in  Princeton, 
October  I,  1730.  After  receiving  his  diploma  from 
President  Burr,  he  studied  law  with  David  Ogden 
of  Newark  and  quickly  rose  to  prominence  in  his 
profession.  In  1766  he  went  to  Europe,  where  he 
was  received  by  men  of  eminence.  While  in  Edin- 
burgh he  was  attacked  by  a  robber  at  night,  but 
defended  himself  successfully  with  a  small  sword. 

21 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

He  narrowly  escaped  death  also  on  another  occasion. 
He  had  engaged  passage  on  a  packet  to  cross  the 
Irish  Channel,  but  his  baggage,  having  been  de- 
layed, did  not  arrive  in  time  for  the  sailing.  The 
vessel  on  which  he  had  planned  to  embark  was 
wrecked,  and  all  on  board  perished.  Mr.  Stockton 
was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Council  of  New 
Jersey,  1768-1776,  and  became  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  New  Jersey  in  1774,  but  declined  the  Chief 
Justiceship.  Conspicuous  in  the  cause  of  the  colo- 
nies, in  1776  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  and  signed  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  During  the  Revolutionary  War, 
while  visiting  at  the  house  of  a  friend  in  Monmouth 
County,  he  was  captured  by  Royalists  and  taken  to 
New  York,  where  he  was  imprisoned.  He  was  re- 
leased through  efforts  of  the  Continental  Congress. 
Judge  Stockton  was  a  trustee  of  the  college  from 
1757  until  his  death  in  1781. 

New  Brunswick  and  Princeton  were  the  rival  lo- 
cations suggested  for  the  college  and  New  Bruns- 
wick was  chosen  as  the  place  for  holding  the  second 
Commencement.  In  1750  the  board  of  trustees, 
after  the  fashion  of  putting  the  prize  out  to  the  high- 
est bidder,  asked  both  New  Brunswick  and  Prince- 
ton what  bonus  they  would  give,  and  the  following 
year  New  Brunswick  was  chosen  on  condition  that 
£1000  proclamation  money  together  with  ten  acres 
of  cleared  land  and  two  hundred  acres  of  woodland 


WHEN   WE   LIVED   UNDER   THE   KING 

be  donated.  But  this  choice  never  became  effective ; 
for  the  enterprising  citizens  of  Princeton  were 
ready  with  a  counter  offer,  and  the  board  appointed 
a  committee  to  consider  both  proposals.  New 
Brunswick  having  failed  to  comply  with  the  terms 
set  by  the  trustees,  and  Princeton  having  expressed 
readiness  to  meet  those  conditions,  in  1752  it  was 
voted  to  locate  the  college  at  Princeton. 

The  original  campus,  400  feet  long  by  490  feet 
deep,  located  on  "the  broad  street",  was  the 
gift  of  Nathaniel  Fitz  Randolph,  who  raised  £1700, 
of  which  he  gave  £20  himself,  to  secure  the  location 
of  the  college  at  Princeton.  A  few  years  ago,  when 
the  foundation  of  Holder  Hall  was  being  laid,  several 
graves  were  turned  up,  which  were  believed  to  be 
part  of  the  Fitz  Randolph  family  burial  ground. 
The  contents  of  these  graves  were  reinterred  under 
the  eastern  arch  of  Holder  Hall,  and  over  them  was 
placed  a  tablet  bearing  the  fitting  inscription,  writ- 
ten by  Dean  West,  "IN  AGRO  JACET  NOSTRO  IMMO 
suo",  "In  our  field  he  lies,  —  nay,  in  his  own." 

The  Fitz  Randolph  Gateway,  directly  in  front 
of  Nassau  Hall  and  forming  an  entrance  from  the 
"broad  street"  to  the  original  portion  of  the  campus 
which  he  gave,  is  also  a  memorial  to  this  early 
benefactor. 

It  was  a  happy  choice  that  placed  the  college  in 
the  colonial  village  of  Princeton. 

Located  midway  between  the  two  growing  cities 

23 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  on  the  King's  High- 
way, the  main  line  of  stagecoach  travel  between 
the  two  cities,  a  more  advantageous  site  from  the 
geographical  standpoint  could  hardly  have  been 
chosen.  During  the  century  following,  this  location 
brought  to  the  students  at  Princeton  occasional  in- 
tercourse with  those  who  were  taking  part  in  the 
development  of  the  nation,  as  well  as  almost  daily 
touch  with  lesser  lights  of  the  busy  outside  world. 
At  the  same  time  the  rural  seclusion  of  the  place 
kept  them  free  from  the  distractions  of  more  popu- 
lous centers,  an  advantage  most  beneficial  in  the 
period  of  preparation  for  their  work  in  the  world. 
It  threw  them  in  upon  themselves  and  was  the 
chief  element  in  the  development  of  that  community 
life  which  ever  since  has  been  one  of  Princeton's 
most  striking  characteristics. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  its  physical  advantages, 
Princeton  is  literally  a  "city  set  on  a  hill."  It 
stands  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  feet  above  the 
ocean,  on  the  high  land  separating  the  alluvial  plain 
of  southern  New  Jersey  from  the  hills  of  the  north. 
From  the  town  site  the  land  slopes  away  in  all 
directions.  This  elevated  location  affords  those 
numerous  views  which  add  so  much  to  the  charm  of 
the  place.  To  the  north  the  wooded  heights  lead 
up  gently  to  the  near  horizon,  and  to  the  southward 
stretch  those  more  distant  views  across  the  wide 
plain  to  the  ocean.  From  "Prospect"  and  the  club- 

24 


WHEN   WE   LIVED   UNDER   THE   KING 

houses  which  beautify  the  high  ridge  to  the  east- 
ward, there  are  singularly  attractive  views.  On 
clear  days  in  the  spring  and  autumn  one  can  make 
out  the  distant  Navesink  Highlands,  thirty  miles 
away,  with  here  and  there  a  church  spire  peeping 
from  a  cluster  of  houses  and  foliage.  Princeton  is 
also  blessed  with  an  unusually  healthful  climate, 
and  with  a  temperature  that  seldom  goes  either  ex- 
cessively high  or  low.  Its  latitude  brings  together 
the  overlapping  borders  of  the  north  and  south ; 
hence  the  foliage  and  the  birds  of  both  sections  are 
here  combined.  This  advantage  of  latitude  gives  to 
the  place  a  great  variety  of  beautiful  trees  and  shrub- 
bery, and  encourages  the  development  of  those 
gardens  and  lawns  and  residential  parks  which  have 
made  the  village  so  conspicuously  a  place  of  hand- 
some homes. 

The  choice  of  Princeton  as  the  site  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  definitely  fixed  for  all  time  the  destiny 
of  the  town.  It  made  education  its  one  and  only 
industry.  There  are  no  factories  in  Princeton. 
Throughout  its  history  it  has  remained  free  from 
unsightly  smokestacks  and  the  smudge  that  issues 
therefrom.  Even  its  two  interurban  trolleys  have 
not  been  permitted  to  pass  through  the  town. 
The  selection  of  Princeton  as  the  site  of  the  college 
has  brought  to  the  village  such  additional  educa- 
tional institutions  as  the  Theological  Seminary  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Princeton  Preparatory 

25 


THE  STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

School,  and,  in  our  own  day,  St.  Joseph's  College,  a 
Catholic  institution  overlooking  Lake  Carnegie. 
Near  by  also  is  the  new  Rockefeller  Institute  of  Ani- 
mal Research,  and  the  Lawrenceville  School,  five 
miles  to  the  westward,  owes  its  existence  to  Prince- 
ton influence.  Two  other  schools  have  come  and 
gone  —  the  Edgehill  School  for  the  preparation  of 
boys  for  college,  and  Evelyn  College,  an  institution 
for  girls,  formerly  located  on  the  eastern  borders  of 
the  village. 

The  location  of  the  college  at  Princeton  naturally 
led  to  a  boom  in  real  estate,  and  the  citizens  of  the 
place  were  soon  reaping  the  reward  of  their  enter- 
prise —  a  process  which  has  gone  on  intermittently 
ever  since.  The  trustees  of  the  college  at  once 
began  buying  land  adjoining  the  Fitz  Randolph 
plot  to  keep  it  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  specu- 
lators or  unwelcome  neighbors.  There  is  evidence 
extant  that  even  one  of  the  trustees  was  not  above 
putting  through  "a  little  deal  in  real  estate"  at  the 
expense  of  the  infant  institution. 

On  July  29,  1764,  ground  was  broken  for  the  first 
building,  and  on  September  17  the  corner  stone  was 
laid.  Robert  Smith  and  Doctor  Shippen  of  Phila- 
delphia drew  the  plans  of  the  first  building,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  president's  house  near  by.  Mr. 
Smith  had  designed  the  State  House  in  Philadelphia, 
-  Independence  Hall,  —  in  which  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  was  signed  and  the  Liberty  Bell 

26 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

still  hangs.  Probably  for  reasons  of  economy,  local 
stone,  then  as  now  so  plentiful  around  Princeton, 
was  used  for  the  walls  of  Nassau  Hall ;  but  in  any 
event  a  more  durable  and  attractive  material  could 
not  have  been  found,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years  this  excellent  stone, 
so  near  at  hand,  was  neglected  by  the  builders  of 
Princeton.  Only  in  recent  years  has  it  been  "re- 
discovered" and  used  with  great  effectiveness  in  the 
Gothic  architecture  of  the  modern  building  period. 

Old  Nassau  Hall,  one  of  America's  finest  examples 
of  colonial  architecture,  on  the  steps  of  which  the 
seniors  sing  in  the  long  spring  evenings,  retains 
to-day  in  all  essentials  its  design  as  planned  in  1754. 
Its  original  dimensions  were  177  feet  long,  53!  feet 
wide,  with  a  rear  extension  15  feet  long  and  36  feet 
wide,  and  a  front  extension  of  3  or  4  feet.  The 
building  originally  had  three  front  entrances  —  the 
present  central  doorway,  now  flanked  by  the  tigers, 
and  a  smaller  entrance  on  each  side  of  this  doorway, 
these  two  additional  entrances  being  placed  midway 
in  the  eastern  and  western  wings.  They  led  to 
corridors  ten  feet  wide.  The  building  was  of  three 
stories  and  basement.  In  addition  to  the  central 
hall  there  were  sixty  rooms,  including  those  for 
students,  recitations,  the  refectory,  the  kitchen,  and 
the  library. 

At  the  time  of  its  erection,  Nassau  Hall  was  the 
largest  stone  building  in  the  colonies.  When  com- 

27 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

pleted  in  1762,  it  accommodated  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven  students,  allowing  three  to  each  room. 
The  cost  of  its  erection  was  about  twenty-nine 
hundred  pounds.  The  president's  house  near  by 
was  built  at  an  expense  of  something  over  six  hun- 
dred pounds. 

To  meet  these  expenses  and  also  to  provide  for 
salaries  and  equipment,  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Samuel 
Davies  of  the  board  of  trustees  were  sent  to  Eng- 
land to  raise  funds.  Chiefly  through  church  col- 
lections in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  a  total 
fund  of  over  thirty-two  hundred  pounds  was  raised 
by  Davies  and  Tennent.  To  this  original  endow- 
ment Governor  Belcher  added  as  a  gift  his  private 
library  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  volumes, 
which  was  the  beginning  of  the  University  Library. 
The  Governor  also  presented  his  portrait  and  coat 
of  arms  and  his  collection  of  royal  portraits. 

The  trustees,  in  an  address  to  the  Governor,  ex- 
pressed their  desire  to  give  his  name  to  the  building 
which  was  to  be  the  home  of  the  college  of  which  he 
was  the  "Founder,  Patron  and  Benefactor"  .  .  . 
"Let  BELCHER-HALL  proclaim  your  beneficent 
Acts,  for  the  advancement  of  Christianity  and  Emol- 
ument of  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  to  the  latest  Ages." 
The  Governor  appreciated  the  compliment,  but  all 
the  blandishments  of  trustees  could  not  make  his 
common  sense  subservient  to  his  vanity.  He  sug- 
gested the  name  of  Nassau  Hall  as  a  memorial  to 

28 


WHEN  WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE   KING 

"the  Honour  we  retain,  in  this  remote  Part  of  the 
Globe,  to  the  immortal  Memory  of  the  Glorious  King 
William  the  Third  who  was  a  Branch  of  the  Illus- 
trious House  of  Nassau." 

Whereupon  it  was  formally  voted  and  ordered 
"that  the  said  Edifice  be  in  all  Time  to  come  called 
and  Known  by  the  Name  of  Nassau  Hall" 

Thus  the  name  of  Nassau  came  to  Princeton, 
a  name  through  the  succeeding  years  appropriated 
by  every  conceivable  thing  from  the  ancient  Nassau 
Inn  to  the  Nassau  "tonsorial  parlors"  on  the  other 
side  of  the  historic  street  that  for  a  century  and  a 
half  has  also  borne  the  same  honored  name.  Up 
to  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  the  formal  title  of  the 
"College  of  New  Jersey"  was  used  scarcely  at  all 
except  in  official  documents ;  the  institution  was 
known  almost  universally  as  "Nassau  Hall."  After 
East  and  West  Colleges  were  erected,  the  original 
building  was  distinguished  for  many  years  as  "Old 
North",  a  name  which  persists  in  Princeton  litera- 
ture and  in  the  vernacular,  although  among  the 
present  generation  it  is  giving  way  to  the  original 
and  more  appropriate  name  of  Nassau  Hall. 

President  Burr  and  his  seventy  students  moved 
from  Newark  to  Princeton  in  1756,  and  the  campus 
life  in  the  colonial  village  which  has  continued  ever 
since  began  on  November  13  of  that  year,  when 
the  youthful  president  opened  the  first  formal 
exercises  in  Nassau  Hall. 

29 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Both  Governor  Belcher  and  President  Burr  died 
soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  college  at  Prince- 
ton. These  two  founders,  the  one  old  in  years  and 
wisdom,  the  other  elected  president  at  thirty-one, 
had  worked  together  with  singular  enthusiasm  and 
devotion  for  the  establishment  of  the  college  on  a 
firm  and  enduring  foundation.  Yet  neither  was 
permitted  to  reap  the  fruits  of  his  labors.  An  inter- 
esting glimpse  of  the  intimate  relations  of  the  two 
men  is  revealed  in  the  fact  that  President  Burr 
administered  electrical  treatment  to  Governor  Bel- 
cher by  means  of  an  apparatus  used  by  the  students 
in  his  class.  But  this  proved  unavailing  to  check 
the  creeping  paralysis  of  which  the  Governor  was  a 
victim,  and  he  died  August  31,  1757. 

President  Burr  literally  gave  his  life  in  the  service 
of  the  college.  Of  a  frail  constitution,  the  drain 
upon  his  energies  in  the  removal  to  Princeton  had 
greatly  impaired  his  health.  In  the  interest  of  the 
college  he  had  traveled  to  Stockbridge,  Massachu- 
setts, to  consult  his  father-in-law,  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards. He  had  then  hurried  to  Elizabeth  to  urge 
before  the  Provincial  Assembly  the  exemption  of  his 
students  from  military  duty,  and  had  continued  his 
journey  to  Philadelphia  on  additional  college  busi- 
ness. Ill  with  intermittent  fever,  he  returned  from 
these  arduous  duties  to  learn  of  the  death  of  his  old 
friend  and  coworker,  Governor  Belcher.  After 
preaching  the  Governor's  funeral  sermon,  he  was 

30 


WHEN  WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE  KING 

so  ill  that  it  was  necessary  to  cancel  the  public  exer- 
cises which  had  been  planned  for  Commencement, 
and  four  days  before  the  date  set  for  that  event  he 
died,  September  24,  1757. 

Burr  breathed  the  breath  of  life  into  the  college 
which  Hamilton's  and  Belcher's  charters  made  pos- 
sible. He  established  the  first  entrance  require- 
ments, he  drew  up  the  first  curriculum,  he  formulated 
the  first  rules  of  government,  he  led  the  movement  for 
the  first  building,  he  organized  the  student  life  at 
Princeton,  he  established  the  first  treasury. 

During  the  first  twenty  years  the  college  had  no 
less  than  five  presidents,  as  many  as  during  the  en- 
tire subsequent  century.  President  Wilson  has  been 
quoted  as  remarking  in  effect  that  the  office  of 
college  president  is  more  strenuous  than  that  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  But  if  the  president 
had  a  strenuous  time  of  it,  even  more  vexatious  was 
the  life  of  the  college  steward.  Created  the  year 
before  the  removal  to  Princeton,  in  executive  duties 
the  office  of  steward  was  second  only  to  that  of  the 
president.  The  first  incumbent  of  this  thankless 
job  was  Jonathan  Baldwin,  who  entered  upon  his 
duties  almost  immediately  after  his  graduation  from 
the  college  in  1755.  He  must  have  been  of  a  robust 
constitution  for  he  continued  in  the  office  for  six- 
teen years,  while  four  presidents  passed  to  their 
eternal  rewards.  As  his  was  the  duty  of  victualing 
the  college,  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  his  office 

31 


was  the  subject  of  constant  consideration  by  the 
board  of  trustees.  The  fact  that  at  intervals  he 
was  placed  under  bond  to  supply  good  food  at  rea- 
sonable rates,  duly  stipulated,  does  not  seem  to  have 
helped  the  situation.  To  add  to  his  misery,  it  was. 
part  of  his  job  to  collect  the  price  of  his  food  from 
those  who  had  to  eat  it.  The  steward  also  collected 
tuition  and  room  rent  and  even  gathered  the  pew 
rent  from  residents  of  the  town  who  held  their  Sab- 
bath worship  in  the  college  prayer  hall.  He  bought 
the  college  furniture,  hired  the  servants,  and  paid 
the  tutors.  He  was  the  original  university  book- 
store, he  summoned  trustees  to  meetings,  he  shooed 
culprits  away  from  the  bell  rope,  and  he  even  cleaned 
the  college  chimneys.  It  is  small  wonder  that 
when  in  1773  some  of  the  undergraduate  humorists 
hung  Jonathan  Baldwin  in  effigy  in  the  college 
refectory  —  the  effigy  being  artistically  fashioned 
in  the  worthy  steward's  own  butter  —  he  indig- 
nantly resigned  his  stewardship.  It  is  perhaps  sig- 
nificant of  the  justice  of  the  students'  objections  to 
the  first  steward  that  he  was  fined  by  the  Council 
of  Safety  of  Princeton  for  selling  sugar  for  a  higher 
rate  than  the  law  allowed. 

One  of  Jonathan  Baldwin's  successors,  a  Scotch- 
man named  Henry  Clow,  was  famous  as  a  baker, 
the  village  poet,  and  the  mayor  of  the  borough. 
He  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  more  popular, 
however,  than  his  predecessor,  for  it  is  on  record 

32 


Mnrquaml  ('Impel 


WHEN   WE   LIVED   UNDER   THE   KING 

that  the  students  were  accustomed  at  a  prearranged 
signal  to  grab  the  tablecloth  and  dump  the  viands 
and  dishes  out  the  refectory  window.  Peter  Elmen- 
dorf  of  the  class  of  1782  wrote  to  his  parents  that  he 
would  "rather  diet  with  the  meanest  rank  of  people 
than  with  the  steward  of  the  college"  ;  that  "we  eat 
rye  bread,  half  dough  and  as  black  as  it  possibly 
can  be,  and  oniony  butter,  and  some  times  dry  bread 
and  thick  coffee  for  breakfast,  a  little  milk  or  cyder 
and  bread,  and  sometimes  meagre  chocolate,  for 
supper,  very  indifferent  dinners,  such  as  lean  tough 
boiled  fresh  beef  with  dry  potatoes ;  and  if  this 
deserves  to  be  called  diet  for  mean  ravenous  people 
let  it  be  so  stiled,  and  not  a  table  for  collegians." 

As  the  father-in-law  of  President  Burr  and  a  meta- 
physician of  wide  reputation,  Jonathan  Edwards 
had  been  frequently  consulted  in  college  affairs  and 
it  was  natural  that  the  trustees  should  turn  to  him 
to  carry  on  the  work  of  his  son-in-law.  Five  days 
after  Burr's  death,  Edwards  was  elected  his  suc- 
cessor. No  other  name  was  even  considered.  It 
was  with  the  greatest  reluctance  that  he  was  per- 
suaded to  accept  a  responsibility  for  which  he  thought 
himself  ill-fitted.  The  trait  of  introspection  so 
characteristic  of  the  author  of  "The  Freedom  of 
the  Will"  is  shown  in  his  letter  to  the  trustees  : 

"I  have  a  constitution  in  many  respects  peculiarly 
unhappy,  attended  with  flaccid  solids,  vapid,  sizy, 
and  scarce  fluids,  and  a  low  tide  of  spirits ;  often 

33 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

occasioning  a  kind  of  childish  weakness  and  contemp- 
tibleness  of  speech,  presence,  and  demeanor,  with  a 
disagreeable  dulness  and  stiffness,  much  unfitting 
me  for  conversation,  but  more  especially  for  the 
government  of  a  college." 

There  were  many  other  obstacles,  real  or  imagi- 
nary, all  of  which  were  overcome,  and  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards' arrival  in  Princeton  was  the  occasion  of  great 
joy  to  the  college.  While  awaiting  his  inauguration, 
he  preached  every  Sunday  in  the  college  chapel. 
His  first  sermon,  according  to  tradition,  required 
more  than  two  hours  in  delivery.  Possibly  the  mod- 
ern undergraduate,  who  is  apt  to  resent  as  an  invasion 
of  his  rights  a  sermon  of  over  half  an  hour,  may  be 
inclined  to  discount  Doctor  Samuel  Miller's  state- 
ment that  this  learned  discourse  "was  so  peculiarly 
instructive  and  solemn  .  .  .  that  his  hearers  .  .  . 
were  unconscious  of  the  lapse  of  time,  and  surprised 
that  it  closed  so  soon."  Edwards  also  took  charge 
of  the  senior  class  in  theology,  each  student  being 
expected  to  study  and  write  upon  each  question. 
Then  they  met  with  the  president-elect  to  answer 
the  questions.  The  members  of  President  Edwards' 
"preceptorial  group"  long  recalled  these  meetings 
with  the  great  metaphysician  as  among  the  most 
inspiring  experiences  of  their  lives. 

It  was  not  an  easy  thing  to  get  the  board  of  trus- 
tees together  in  those  times  of  arduous  travel,  even 
for  so  important  an  event  as  the  inauguration  of  a 

34 


WHEN   WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

new  president.  But  finally  on  February  16,  1758, 
Jonathan  Edwards  was  solemnly  inaugurated  as 
President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  The  cere- 
mony seems  to  have  consisted  merely  in  Mr.  Ed- 
wards' taking  the  oath  of  office  and  having  the  col- 
lege formally  and  publicly  committed  to  his 
charge. 

As  there  were  several  cases  of  smallpox  in  Prince- 
ton at  the  time,  it  was  deemed  expedient  that  Presi- 
dent Edwards,  with  his  two  daughters,  should 
undergo  inoculation  for  that  disease.  They  were 
accordingly  inoculated  on  February  23.  At  first 
the  new  president's  progress  was  favorable,  but  the 
disease  took  a  turn  for  the  worse  and  caused  his 
death  on  March  22,  1758.  He  died  in  his  fifty-fifth 
year,  only  five  weeks  after  his  inauguration. 

As  the  foremost  metaphysician  of  America,  a 
preacher  and  writer  preeminent  in  the  art  of  subtle 
argument,  Jonathan  Edwards'  influence  on  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  been 
limited  to  his  brief  period  of  official  connection  with 
the  institution.  His  influence  on  his  time  was 
undoubtedly  great,  particularly  upon  the  men  who 
founded  the  college ;  and  President  Burr  must  have 
imparted  to  the  infant  institution  much  of  the  spirit 
and  counsel  of  his  eminent  father-in-law.  So  far, 
however,  as  his  actual  administration  of  the  college 
goes,  President  Edwards'  term  of  five  weeks  was 
almost  negligible ;  but  the  official  association  of 

35 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

his  great  name  with  the  college  is  a  distinction 
which  all  Princetonians  highly  prize. 

The  old  Log  College  strife  had  not  entirely  died 
out,  and  partisan  spirit  again  cropped  out  in  the 
board.  The  Reverend  James  Lockwood  having 
declined  an  election  to  the  presidency,  the  trustees 
were  then  divided  between  Samuel  Davies  and 
Samuel  Finley.  Davies  received  a  majority  vote 
but  he  also  declined  the  election.  The  following 
year,  in  May,  1759,  Davies  and  Finley  were  again 
nominated.  The  former  was  finally  elected  and 
accepted  the  office. 

The  new  president  was  thirty-six  years  of  age. 
He  had  been  educated  at  Samuel  Blair's  school  in 
Faggs  Manor,  and  as  a  missionary  in  Virginia  had 
gained  large  influence  as  a  preacher.  His  sermons 
were  so  popular  that  they  were  read  both  in  this 
country  and  in  England  for  more  than  half  a  century 
after  his  death,  and  his  works  were  issued  in  nine 
editions  in  England  and  four  in  America. 

But  with  all  his  undoubted  gifts,  President  Davies 
was  singularly  lacking  in  self-confidence.  We  have 
seen  that  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  he 
had  visited  England  in  company  with  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent  in  1753,  to  raise  funds  for  the  college,  a  mission 
upon  which  he  entered,  he  declared,  "with  very 
gloomy  prospects."  He  regarded  it  as  "the  most 
surprising  and  unexpected  step  in  my  life."  Never- 
theless the  mission  was  a  great  success.  On  this 

36 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

trip  to  England  to  raise  funds  for  the  college,  Davies 
and  Tennent  felt  constrained  to  steer  a  careful  course 
to  avoid  offense  to  the  numerous  warring  sects. 
In  his  diary  of  the  journey,  Davies  says  :  "There 
are  so  many  Parties  here  yt  it  is  very  perplexing  to 
us  how  to  behave  so  as  to  avoid  offense,  &  not  injure 
ye  business  of  our  Embassy."  Accordingly  they 
declined  an  invitation  to  stay  at  the  house  of  White- 
field,  from  whom,  however,  they  privately  received 
advice  and  encouragement,  and  whom  Davies  con- 
sidered "ye  Wonder  of  ye  Age."  They  met  ministers 
of  the  several  sects  at  the  coffee  houses,  preached 
in  the  churches  of  London  and  throughout  the 
islands,  and  by  personal  solicitations  and  church 
collections  raised  funds  for  the  college  beyond  all 
expectations.  The  Bishop  of  Durham,  though  ex- 
pressing doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of  helping  a  dis- 
senting project,  privately  gave  Davies  five  guineas 
for  the  college.  Davies  was  a  persuasive  talker,  and 
his  preaching  attracted  great  crowds.  King  George 
came  to  hear  him.  In  London,  Davies  and  Tennent 
collected  seventeen  hundred  pounds,  and  this  was 
largely  increased  by  their  journeys  throughout  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  Ireland.  Before  their  journey, 
the  funds  of  the  college  had  amounted  to  only  about 
three  thousand  pounds,  which  their  mission  more 
than  doubled. 

Davies  entered   upon   his  duties   as  president  of 
the  college  with  many  misgivings.     Just  before  the 

37 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Commencement  at  which  he  was  to  be  inaugurated, 
he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "a  Tremour  still  seizes  me  at 
the  Tho't  of  my  Situation."  He  was  sure  that 
Commencement  would  prove  "the  terrible  Day 
of  my  Mortification."  That  there  was  no  occasion 
for  the  new  president's  pessimism  was  apparent 
from  his  first  arrival  in  Princeton.  Tutor  Treat 
wrote  that  he  was  "much  loved  and  respected  by 
all",  and  that  "his  persuasion  is  irresistible."  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Davies  had  not  been  in  office  more 
than  three  months  when  he  found  that  the  affairs 
of  the  college  were  "smooth  and  easy",  and  that 
"we  seem  at  least  to  have  so  much  Goodness  as  to 
love  one  another."  The  factional  fight  was  evi- 
dently over,  and  both  parties  were  ready  to  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel. 

Plans  for  increasing  the  funds  did  not  bear  fruit, 
but  Davies'  administration  was  distinguished  by 
the  raising  of  the  standards  of  both  the  bachelor's 
and  master's  degrees,  and  by  improvement  in  the 
library.  To  the  latter  the  president  especially  de- 
voted himself.  He  published  a  catalogue  of  the 
books,  for  which  he  wrote  a  preface,  wherein  he  did 
not  neglect  to  appeal  for  additional  books,  especially 
for  the  study  of  mathematics  and  the  "Newtonian 
Philosophy."  Since  Governor  Belcher's  original 
gift  to  the  library  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-five 
volumes,  the  collection  had  now  grown  to  a  total  of 
twelve  hundred. 

38 


WHEN  WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE  KING 

To  vary  the  monotony  of  college  prayers  Presi- 
dent Davies  consented  to  the  introduction  of  psalm- 
ody, and  to  the  grave  concern  of  some  of  the  clergy 
of  the  day  an  organ  was  installed  in  the  chapel. 
The  Reverend  Ezra  Stiles  "thought  it  an  innovation 
of  ill  consequence,  &  that  the  Trustees  were  too 
easily  practised  upon."  The  prayer  hall  was  also 
embellished  with  a  portrait  of  King  George  II,  the 
unveiling  of  which  was  made  the  occasion  of  mani- 
festations of  loyalty  to  the  Crown.  For  the  mother 
country,  at  the  zenith  of  her  power  in  1760,  still 
held  the  loyalty  of  her  American  colonists.  In  the 
next  decade,  however,  affairs  moved  swiftly,  and 
sixteen  years  after  the  portrait  of  the  king  was  hung 
in  Nassau  Hall,  it  was  shot  from  its  frame  in  the  war 
for  independence.  According  to  tradition,  during 
the  Battle  of  Princeton  a  cannon  ball  from  the  battle- 
field penetrated  a  window  and  decapitated  the  un- 
fortunate King,  whose  headstrong  grandson  was 
causing  so  much  trouble. 

When  General  Washington  attended  Commence- 
ment while  Congress  was  in  session  in  1783,  he  pre- 
sented to  the  college  a  gift  of  fifty  guineas.  This 
gift  the  trustees  devoted  to  employing  the  famous 
artist,  Charles  Wilson  Peale,  to  paint  the  portrait 
of  Washington  which  ever  since  has  hung  in  Nassau 
Hall,  occupying  the  original  frame  in  which  once 
hung  the  portrait  of  George  II. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  recall  an 

39 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

incident  which  illustrates  the  foresight  of  President 
Davies  and  ranks  him  among  the  prophets.  After 
Braddock's  defeat  in  1775  he  wrote  : 

"I  may  point  out  to  the  public  that  heroic  youth, 
Colonel  Washington,  whom  I  cannot  but  hope 
Providence  has  hitherto  preserved  in  so  signal  a 
manner  for  some  important  service." 

Himself  an  accomplished  orator,  Davies  introduced 
public  speaking  for  his  seniors,  a  practice  which 
continued  for  over  a  century  and  a  quarter.  He 
also  improved  the  English  instruction.  He  was  a 
pioneer  in  the  colonial  cause  and  in  the  encourage- 
ment of  alumni  loyalty  to  the  college.  His  adminis- 
tration was  giving  promise  of  brilliant  success  when 
it  was  closed  by  his  death  after  only  eighteen  months 
in  the  presidency.  He  died  of  pneumonia  in  Febru- 
ary, 1761. 

Princeton's  fifth  president  was  the  Reverend 
Samuel  Finley,  D.D.  He  was  the  first  foreign-born 
president,  though  unlike  Witherspoon  and  McCosh 
he  was  not  called  to  the  presidency  from  abroad. 
He  was  also  the  first  Princeton  officer  and  second 
American  clergyman  to  receive  an  honorary  degree 
from  a  British  university,  having  been  awarded  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  by  the  University 
of  Glasgow.  Born  in  1715  in  County  Armagh, 
Ireland,  he  came  to  America  at  nineteen,  attended 
the  Log  College,  and  established  the  famous  early 
school  at  Nottingham,  Maryland,  which  he  con- 

40 


WHEN   WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE  KING 

ducted  in  connection  with  pastorates  over  several 
congregations.  Among  his  pupils  at  Nottingham 
were  such  well-known  men  as  Doctor  Benjamin 
Rush  of  the  class  of  1760,  Judge  Jacob  Rush  of  1765, 
United  States  Postmaster-General  Ebenezer  Hazard 
of  1762,  Doctor  Alexander  Macwhorter  of  1757, 
Alexander  Martin  of  1756,  Governor  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  United  States  Senator,  and  the  celebrated 
blind  preacher,  James  Waddell  of  Virginia. 

Doctor  Finley  had  been  active  in  the  founding 
of  the  college.  Four  months  after  Davies'  death, 
in  June,  1761,  he  was  chosen  to  the  presidency, 
evidently  without  opposition,  and  the  following 
month  he  was  formally  inaugurated  in  the  prayer 
hall.  The  Pennsylvania  Journal,  reporting  his  in- 
duction into  office  with  appropriate  ceremony,  says 
of  his  Latin  inaugural  that  "the  Composition  was 
made  up  with  such  Purity  of  Diction ;  flowing  and 
harmonious  Periods ;  the  Pronunciation  so  exact 
and  elegant ;  that  no  one  but  so  great  a  Master  of 
the  Roman  Language  as  this  Gentleman  evidently 
is,  could  have  effected  it." 

Although  there  seems  to  have  been  some  discon- 
tent manifested  with  Dr.  Finley  on  the  ground  of 
lack  of  progress,  the  college  was  nevertheless  enjoy- 
ing healthy  growth,  and  we  are  indebted  to  his  ad- 
ministration for  the  best  contemporary  account 
extant,  of  the  life  and  history  of  the  college,  and  the 
course  of  study.  This  account,  published  in  1764, 

41 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

had  been  planned  by  the  board  for  several  years, 
and  was  now  prepared  by  Samuel  Blair,  a  tutor 
under  Finley.  It  was  evidently  a  "campaign  docu- 
ment" issued  as  an  appeal  for  support  of  the  col- 
lege. A  time-worn  copy  is  still  preserved  in  the 
University  Library,  showing  as  a  frontispiece  one 
of  our  earliest  drawings  of  Nassau  Hall  and  the 
president's  house. 

Whether  or  not  Blair's  interesting  pamphlet 
was  put  forth  with  the  intention  of  influencing  the 
members  of  the  provincial  legislature  to  authorize 
a  lottery  for  the  benefit  of  the  college  is  not  certain, 
but  at  any  rate,  through  some  unknown  influence 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  legislators,  in  which  the 
canny  Scotch-Irish  president  may  be  assumed  to 
have  had  a  part,  such  a  lottery  was  finally  authorized 
in  1764.  Our  pious  founders,  though  rigid  in  morals 
and  religion,  were  not  so  scrupulous  as  to  accepting 
what  might  now  be  regarded  as  "tainted  money", 
provided  it  was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  educa-' 
tion.  The  Finley  lottery  was  limited  by  the  legis- 
lature to  three  thousand  pounds  and  the  lottery  was 
planned  to  go  as  near  as  possible  to  the  limit,  13,333 
tickets  at  thirty  shillings  each  being  offered,  which 
would  give  a  net  return  of  £2,999,  JSs.  6d.,  or  only 
eighteen  pence  short  of  the  three  thousand  pounds 
authorized.  The  lottery  was  drawn  within  the 
sacred  precincts  of  Nassau  Hall.  To  induce  the 
public  to  take  a  chance,  the  tickets  were  offered  on 

42 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE  KING 

credit,  and  the  forbearance  of  prize  winners  was 
craved  for  a  few  weeks  because  it  would  require 
time  to  collect  the  cash.  It  is  on  record  that  three 
years  later  many  of  the  creditors  had  not  made  good, 
and  probably  some  of  them  are  still  indebted  to 
the  college  —  or  to  the  prize  winners. 

This  was  one  of  seven  lotteries  authorized  for 
the  benefit  of  the  college  in  its  early  days,  the  last 
two  of  which,  however,  were  never  carried  out. 
The  last  lottery  was  drawn  at  Newcastle,  Delaware, 
in  1772.  According  to  the  Virginia  Gazette  of  that 
year  this  lottery  was  for  the  joint  benefit  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Princeton,  and  the  united  congregations  at  Newcastle 
and  Christiania  Bridge.  The  drawing  lasted  seven- 
teen days.  The  numbers  began  with  two  and  ended 
with  19,998.  As  advertised,  the  largest  prize  was 
of  the  value  of  six  thousand  dollars,  the  second, 
two  thousand  dollars,  and  there  were  prizes  down 
to  the  value  of  ten  dollars.  As  in  the  Finley  lottery, 
the  tickets  were  sold  on  credit,  and  the  notice  of 
the  lottery  gave  this  significant  warning:  "The 
fortunate  adventurers  in  this  lottery  are  requested 
to  indulge  the  management  with  a  few  weeks'  time 
to  make  the  necessary  collections,  inasmuch  as 
tickets  were  disposed  of  on  credit  at  considerable 
distances  and  widely  scattered  throughout  the 
provinces."  Owing  to  this  precarious  way  of  doing 
business,  the  management  were  forced  to  give  notice 

43 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

that  it  would  be  necessary  to  scale  down  the  prizes 
so  that  the  "fortunate  adventurer"  who  drew  the 
lucky  number  for  the  six  thousand  dollar  prize 
would  have  to  be  content  with  fifty-one  hun- 
dred dollars,  the  winner  of  the  second  prize  of  two 
thousand  dollars  would  be  "docked"  three  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  like  reductions  would  be  made 
all  along  the  line  down  to  the  ten  dollar  prizes, 
which  would  be  good  for  eight  dollars  and  a  half 
net.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  room  for  doubt 
whether  the  "fortunate  adventurers"  received  even 
as  much  as  these  reduced  values,  for  the  beneficiaries 
of  the  lottery  evidently  lacked  the  cash  to  make 
good,  and  a  controversy  arose  over  the  larger  prizes. 
It  was  several  years  before  a  compromise  was  finally 
effected.  The  wrangling  over  the  prizes  as  well  as 
the  inability  of  the  beneficiaries  to  make  good  their 
advertised  promises  tended  to  bring  the  college 
into  disrepute,  and  this  dubious  plan  of  raising  money 
was  accordingly  abandoned  —  though,  so  far  as 
the  record  shows,  not  from  any  ethical  motives. 
As  late,  however,  as  the  second  decade  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  during  President  Green's  adminis- 
tration, a  petition  was  filed  with  the  state  legislature 
to  authorize  another  lottery  for  the  benefit  of  the 
college.  But  the  legislature  declined  to  revive  this 
"old  custom." 

Just  how  much  money  was  raised  for  the  college 
by  means  of  the  five  lotteries  that  were  actually 

44 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

drawn  is  unknown,  owing  to  the  destruction  of  the 
treasurer's  records. 

The  closing  years  of  President  Finley's  adminis- 
tration were  marked  by  the  growing  discontent  of 
the  colonies  with  the  government  across  seas.  For 
Princeton  was  foremost  in  the  opposition  to  the 
oppressive  measures  imposed  upon  the  colonies 
by  George  III  and  his  subservient  Parliament.  As 
early  as  1758  the  citizens  of  Princeton  had  petitioned 
the  provincial  legislature  for  relief  from  the  burden 
and  vexations  of  having  British  troops  quartered 
upon  them  during  the  French  and  Indian  War. 
This  petition,  bearing  the  signatures  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  Princeton,  was  drawn  by  Richard  Stock- 
ton of  the  class  of  1748,  the  trustee  of  the  college 
who  later  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
In  the  years  immediately  following,  there  was  mani- 
fested in  the  addresses  of  the  president  and  trustees 
to  the  several  governors  of  the  province  a  gradual 
loosening  of  the  ties  of  loyalty  to  the  Crown,  for 
while  the  address  of  the  president  and  tutors  to 
Governor  Franklin  in  1763  still  protested  that  the 
college  authorities  were  concerned  to  instil  into  the 
minds  of  their  pupils  "Principles  of  Loyalty  to  the 
best  of  Kings"  and  "a  firm  Attachment  to  the  most 
excellent  British  Constitution",  it  is  noteworthy 
that  the  students  were  also  impressed  with  "a  Sacred 
Regard  to  the  Cause  of  Religion  and  Liberty." 
And  in  another  address  a  few  months  later,  the  usual 

45 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

assurance  of  loyalty  to  the  Crown  is  significantly 
omitted.  Two  years  later,  in  1765,  the  spirit  of 
hostility  had  made  such  progress  that  we  find  the 
Commencement  programme  bristling  with  both 
an  oration  and  a  dialogue  on  "Liberty",  and  the 
valedictory  was  on  the  subject  of  "Patriotism." 
And  as  though  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  resentment 
of  British  aggression,  the  undergraduates  buttressed 
their  words  with  deeds  by  appearing  at  the  Com- 
mencement exercises  in  clothes  exclusively  of  Ameri- 
can manufacture  —  an  outward  manifestation  of 
their  vigorous  opposition  to  the  navigation  acts. 
This  was  evidently  a  very  popular  exhibition  of  the 
new  Americanism,  for  the  Pennsylvania  Journal, 
reporting  the  Commencement  exercises,  bestowed 
this  praise:  "We  cannot  but  do  the  young  gentle- 
men the  justice  to  observe  that  such  a  spirit  of 
liberty  and  tender  regard  for  their  suffering  country 
breathed  in  their  several  performances,  as  gave  an 
inexpressible  pleasure  to  a  very  crowded  assembly." 
The  following  year,  the  obnoxious  Stamp  Act 
having  been  repealed,  the  trustees  presented,  through 
Richard  Stockton,  then  in  England,  an  address  of 
appreciation  to  the  king  for  his  "gracious  conde- 
scension." The  two  handsome  plane  trees  which 
still  flourish  in  the  front  yard  of  the  dean  of  the  fac- 
ulty, one  on  each  side  of  the  entrance  walk,  their 
spreading  branches  extending  almost  half  way  across 
Nassau  Street,  remain  to  this  day  a  memorial  of 

46 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER   THE   KING 

that  stirring  period  in  the  history  of  the  college. 
For,  according  to  tradition,  these  trees  were  planted 
to  commemorate  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 
The  validity  of  this  tradition  has  been  questioned 
on  the  ground  that  the  trees  were  ordered  before 
the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed.  The  mere  fact  that 
they  were  so  ordered,  however,  does  not  prove  any- 
thing in  regard  to  the  time  or  occasion  of  their 
planting. 

The  setting  out  of  these  trees,  among  many  others, 
was  a  part  of  the  activities  of  President  Finley  in 
improving  the  college  property,  which  extended  to 
the  building  of  a  new  kitchen,  installing  fire-fighting 
equipment  of  an  engine,  ladders,  and  buckets,  and 
digging  a  college  well.  For  Doctor  Finley,  though 
chiefly  distinguished  for  scholarship,  was  not  lack- 
ing in  practical  traits.  For  example,  he  established 
a  quarterly  fee  for  the  enlargement  of  the  library 
and  exacted  a  bond  from  new  students  to  insure  the 
prompt  payment  of  their  obligations  to  the  college. 
In  this  and  in  other  ways  his  practical  experience 
as  head  of  the  Nottingham  Academy  was  turned  to 
the  service  of  the  college.  Though  only  forty-six 
when  he  came  to  the  presidency,  his  busy  life  at 
Nottingham  had  told  upon  his  strength,  and  his 
administration  at  Princeton  had  run  only  five  years 
when  his  death  occurred. 

Doctor  Finley  died  in  Philadelphia,  whither  he 
had  gone  for  medical  treatment.  The  heat  of  the 

47 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

day  of  his  funeral  was  so  great  that  the  body  could 
not  be  brought  to  Princeton,  as  had  been  his  wish, 
and  consequently  he  was  buried  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia,  next  to  the 
grave  of  the  Reverend  Gilbert  Tennent.  With  the 
exception  of  Dickinson  and  Finley,  all  the  deceased 
presidents  of  the  college  are  buried  in  the  old  Prince- 
ton cemetery. 

The  death  of  Doctor  Finley  marks  the  close  of 
the  first  period  in  the  history  of  Princeton.  After 
a  migratory  existence,  the  college  had  become  per- 
manently settled  at  the  colonial  village  on  the  King's 
Highway.  From  the  few  old  records  extant,  it  is 
evident  that  while  located  at  Elizabeth  and  Newark, 
the  institution  was  conducted  much  like  a  boarding 
school  with  the  president  as  headmaster.  At  New- 
ark the  handful  of  students  at  first  lived  under  the 
same  roof  with  President  Burr  at  his  parsonage,  but 
with  the  increase  of  enrollment,  they  had  been  forced 
out  into  lodgings  in  the  town.  Likewise  at  first 
the  college  exercises  were  all  held  at  the  parsonage, 
but  later,  when  the  enrollment  had  increased  to 
seventy,  the  county  courthouse  was.  used  for  recita- 
tions. 

The  first  code  of  laws  framed  by  President  Burr 
for  the  government  of  the  students  indicates  the 
paternal  character  of  the  administration  of  the  col- 
lege. One  of  the  requirements  for  admission,  evi- 
dently fixed  in  order  that  no  student  might  plead 

48 


Lower  Pvne 


WHEN  WE  LIVED  UNDER  THF   KING 

ignorance  of  the  law,  was  the  rule  that  "Every 
student  that  enters  the  college  shall  transcribe  the 
laws ;  which  being  signed  by  the  President,  shall  be 
ye  testimony  of  his  admission ;  and  shall  be  kept 
by  him  whilst  he  continues  a  member  of  said  College 
as  the  Rule  of  Behavior." 

Prayers  were  held  morning  and  evening,  at  which 
all  students  were  obliged  to  attend.  Absence  was 
fined  twopence  and  tardiness  one  penny.  For  Sun- 
day the  fine  was  doubled.  All  students  were  re- 
quired to  remain  in  their  rooms  not  only  on  Sunday 
but  Saturday  night,  under  penalty  of  fourpence 
for  each  offense. 

Any  student  convicted  of  drunkenness,  lying, 
theft,  "or  any  other  scandalous  crime"  was  admon- 
ished, whereupon  he  made  a  public  confession  or 
was  expelled.  Such  "crimes"  as  these  could  not 
be  palliated  by  the  payment  of  a  fine.  Expulsion 
was  also  the  penalty  of  a  second  offense  for  those 
caught  frequenting  taverns  or  places  of  public  en- 
tertainment, or  keeping  company  with  those  known 
to  lead  "scandalous"  lives.  For  other  offenses  the 
penalty  was  usually  a  fine,  though  card  games  if 
persisted  in  might  lead  to  expulsion.  This  law 
was  as  follows:  "None  of  the  students  shall  play 
at  Cards  or  Dice  or  at  any  other  unlawful  game  under 
a  penalty  of  a  fine  not  exceeding  55.  proc.  for  the 
first  offense,  for  the  second,  public  admonition,  and 
for  the  third,  expulsion." 

49 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

A  fine  of  three  shillings  was  imposed  for  fighting 
with  or  striking  another  person.  Damage  to  an- 
other's property  had  to  be  made  good  by  the  offender. 
No  student  could  have  liquor  in  his  room  except  by 
official  permission.  This  rule  was  as  follows : 
"Those  students  that  bring  into  their  chambers 
without  a  permit  from  the  President  or  some  one 
of  the  tutors,  wine,  metheglin,  or  any  kind  of  dis- 
tilled spirituous  liquors  shall  be  punished  with  a 
fine  not  exceeding  53.  proc.  for  each  offense." 

Students  were  required  to  remain  in  their  rooms, 
applying  themselves  "close  to  their  studies",  at  all 
times  except  half  an  hour  after  morning  prayers  and 
recitations,  an  hour  and  a  half  after  dinner,  and 
from  evening  prayer  until  nine  o'clock,  when  the 
retiring  bell  rang.  To  violate  this  rule  cost  four- 
pence.  The  only  vestige  of  this  rule  remaining  in 
this  year  1917  is  the  ringing  of  the  college  bell  at 
nine  o'clock,  the  curfew  which  was  supposed  to  send 
the  students  to  bed. 

Any  student  who  went  out  of  town  without  per- 
mission was  liable  to  a  fine  of  five  shillings,  and  any 
student  who  disobeyed  the  president  or  tutors,  or 
insulted  or  treated  them  with  disrespect  or  contempt, 
was  subject  to  the  same  fine.  The  tuition  charge 
was  fifteen  shillings  a  quarter  with  an  additional 
charge  of  thirty  shillings  at  graduation. 

With  the  students  scattered  in  town  lodgings,  it 
must  have  been  very  difficult  to  enforce  the  rules 

50 


WHEN  WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE   KING 

against  absence  from  their  rooms.  However,  if 
we  may  judge  from  his  letter  home,  no  rules  were 
necessary  to  keep  young  Joseph  Shippen  of  the 
class  of  1753  at  his  books;  for  Shippen,  writing  to 
his  father  in  his  freshman  year,  reports  that  at 
seven  in  the  morning  he  recited  to  the  president  on 
the  works  of  Xenophon  and  on  Watts'  "Ontology." 
The  rest  of  the  morning  until  dinner  time  he  studied 
Cicero  and  the  Hebrew  grammar  and  recited  to 
the  college  tutor.  The  remaining  part  of  the  day 
was  spent  in  the  study  of  Xenophon  and  "Ontol- 
ogy", for  next  morning's  recitations.  Besides  these 
things,  "we  dispute  once  every  week  after  the  syl- 
logistic method,  and  now  and  then  we  learn 
geography."  Writing  later,  he  wants  his  father  to 
send  him  "Tully's  Orations."  He  will  also  need 
Gordon's  "Geographical  Grammar"  and  Watts' 
"Astronomy",  and  a  book  or  two  of  "Logic",  and 
he  adds,  "we  have  today  a  lesson  on  the  Globes." 
Along  in  the  summer  he  was  looking  forward  to  learn- 
ing Horace,  but  his  time  was  then  "filled  up  in  study- 
ing Virgil,  Greek  Testament  and  Rhetoric,  so  that 
I  have  no  time  hardly  to  look  over  my  French  or 
algebra  or  any  English  books  for  my  general  improve- 
ment." 

Soon  after  his  graduation,  we  find  the  writer  of 
these  letters  serving  as  a  captain  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Provincial  Troops  and  later  as  a  lieutenant  colonel. 
He  was  also  Secretary  of  the  Province  of  Pennsyl- 

51 


THE  STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

vania,  a  commissioner  on  the  Indian  Treaty  of  1768, 
and  was  for  many  years  Judge  of  the  County  Court 
of  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania. 

When  Joseph  Shippen  was  a  junior  in  college, 
there  came  to  the  little  institution  at  Newark  a 
young  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  Colony,  a 
youth  of  not  so  serious  a  temperament  as  the  future 
judge  from  Pennsylvania.  Though  he  came  with 
the  intention  of  studying  for  the  ministry,  he  never 
wore  clerical  robes. 

Samuel  Livermore  of  the  class  of  1752,  of  Wal- 
tham,  Massachusetts,  was  twenty  years  of  age 
when  he  sailed  from  Boston  in  the  sloop  Lydia  on 
September  10,  1751,  to  take  the  last  year  of  his  col- 
lege course  under  Mr.  Burr.  His  account  book, 
vellum-bound  and  fastened  with  a  brass  clasp,  is 
still  preserved  in  the  collection  of  Princetoniana  in 
the  University  Library.  For  his  nineteen  days' 
voyage  from  Boston  to  New  York  he  took  on  board 
the  Lydia  the  following  supplies : 

5  quarts  of  West  Ind.  Rum          £l       73.     6d. 

•J  Ib  tea.                  @  483.  I2s. 

Canister  6s. 

1  doz.  Fowls  2       8s. 

2  Ib.  loaf  sugar      @  8s.  i6s. 
i  doz.  &  8  lemons  I       93. 

3  Ibs.  butter  I2s. 

box  55. 

7     173.     6d. 
52 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

This  list  of  prices  is  particularly  interesting  as 
indicating  the  cost  of  living  a  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  years  ago.  The  high  prices  of  the  time  will 
immediately  impress  the  reader.  Loaf  sugar  sold 
at  eight  shillings  a  pound,  lemons  brought  seventeen 
shillings  a  dozen,  and  butter  was  worth  four  shillings 
a  pound.  On  the  other  hand,  one  could  get  eight 
quarts  of  West  India  rum  for  the  price  of  a  pound 
of  tea. 

Livermore  also  laid  in  an  ample  stock  of  clothes, 
consisting  of  two  close  coats,  one  great  coat,  two 
jackets,  thirteen  shirts,  seven  pairs  of  stockings, 
six  caps,  four  cravats,  one  pair  of  shoes,  one  pair 
of  boots,  and  one  pair  of  breeches  —  a  wardrobe 
suitable  for  the  figure  which  he  was  to  cut  at  college. 
He  also  put  on  board  the  sloop  Lydia  a  Bible,  Latin 
and  Greek  Testaments  and  grammars,  a  Latin  Dic- 
tionary and  Lexicon,  Ward's  "Introduction  to 
Mathematics",  Gordon's  "Geography",  and  a  copy 
each  of  Virgil  and  Cicero  —  a  private  library  that 
indicates  that  this  interesting  youth  was  by  no 
means  unmindful  of  the  scholastic  opportunities 
that  lay  before  him. 

He  also  carried  with  him  letters  of  introduction 
to  President  Burr  and  Governor  Belcher.  Upon 
his  arrival  he  was  soon  in  the  thick  of  college  life. 
For  him  it  certainly  was  not  all  study  and  discipline. 
His  account  book  bears  evidence  that  Mr.  Burr 
was  not  always  too  exacting  in  the  enforcement  of 

53 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

his  rules ;  for  instance,  it  could  not  have  been  very 
difficult  for  such  an  attractive  youth  as  Samuel 
Livermore  to  obtain  permission  to  leave  town.  In 
January  after  his  arrival  we  find  him  taking  a  journey 
to  New  York,  for  which  his  "Slay  Hire,  &c."  cost 
him  one  pound  and  sixpence.  If  he  were  in  college 
to-day  he  would  have  his  own  automobile.  Lack- 
ing that  modern  invention,  he  occasionally  gave 
himself  the  pleasure  of  "Horse  Hire  &  Chair." 
This  luxurious  senior  did  not  deign  to  shave  himself, 
but  the  indulgence  did  not  cost  him  so  very  much, 
for  we  find  that  his  barber  bill  for  a  quarter  was 
only  three  shillings  and  sixpence.  Between  his 
recitations  he  was  accustomed  to  regale  himself  and 
his  companion  with  hickory  nuts  and  walnuts,  and 
a  brass  "ink  horn"  adorned  his  study  table.  He  was 
on  very  friendly  terms  with  Joseph  Shippen,  who 
shared  with  him  the  price  of  a  barrel  of  cider  (twenty- 
nine  shillings),  but  it  was  not  until  two  months  later 
that  he  "Reckond  &  clear'd  with  Jos.  Shippen." 
The  latter's  classmate,  Nathaniel  Potter,  also  had 
financial  dealings  with  the  young  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts.  The  firm  of  Livermore  and  Potter 
gave  themselves  and  their  friends  several  "parties", 
for  one  of  which  five  quarts  of  rum,  two  and  three- 
fourths  pounds  of  sugar,  and  two  shillings'  worth 
of  limes  were  required,  not  to  mention  the  tobacco 
accompaniment.  Along  in  the  summer  the  firm 
found  it  agreeable  to  add  brandy  to  their  punch, 

54 


WHEN  WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE   KING 

which  very  evidently  came  in  a  bottle,  for  Livermore 
purchased  a  corkscrew  at  an  outlay  of  one  shilling 
and  sixpence.  Huckleberries  now  being  in  season, 
Livermore's  account  book  bears  evidence  that  he 
was  not  averse  to  supplementing  his  daily  fare  with 
that  plentiful  fruit.  He  took  his  meals  at  William 
Camp's  boarding  house,  and  though  there  was  a  rule 
against  the  use  of  nicknames,  this  genial  boniface 
is  immortalized  in  Livermore's  account  book  as 
"Billy"  Camp.  Livermore  paid  him  seven  shillings 
a  week  for  board,  and  from  the  same  "  Billy "  he 
purchased  a  "skin  parchment."  Free  with  his 
money,  young  Livermore  bought  this  parchment 
and  had  it  cut  up  into  five  pieces  and  engrossed  as 
the  diplomas  of  his  class.  These  cost  him  one 
pound  and  three  shillings,  and  he  collected  from  his 
four  classmates  the  proportionate  cost  for  each.  He 
also  paid  for  the  ribbons  and  wax  for  the  diplomas, 
and  for  the  Commencement  programmes.  In  fact 
he  seems  to  have  been  the  original  class  treasurer, 
and  like  most  class  treasurers,  the  job  cost  him 
money.  He  even  made  loans  to  President  Burr, 
and  he  put  up  the  seven  pounds  and  ten  shillings 
with  which  the  senior  class  purchased  a  "silver  Can" 
presented  to  "Mr.  Praeses  ",  on  the  occasion  of  Burr's 
wedding. 

With  all  the  fun  Samuel  Livermore  got  out  of 
his  one  year  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  he  seems 
to  have  had  no  difficulty  in  passing  his  final  examina- 

55 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

tions,  which  included  Hebrew,  Greek  Testament, 
Homer,  Cicero,  Horace,  logic,  geography,  astronomy, 
natural  philosophy,  ontology,  rhetoric,  and  ethics. 

Returning  to  Waltham  early  in  December,  amply 
equipped  with  knowledge  and  the  experiences  of 
college  life  a  rude  jolt  was  in  store  for  the  learned 
graduate.  Though  highly  esteemed  in  those  days, 
a  college  education  was  not  worth  much  in  dollars 
and  cents,  for  Livermore  solemnly  records  that  he 
"Agreed  with  the  Selectmen  to  keep  their  school  3 
months  for  six  pounds  &  board  myself"  —  three 
months  at  hard  labor  for  less  than  the  cost  of  that 
"West  Ind.  Rum",  "Fowls",  etc.,  he  had  laid  in 
for  his  voyage  from  Boston  to  New  York  a  year 
before  he  went  out  into  the  "cold,  cold  world." 
However,  Samuel  Livermore  was  not  more  cut  out 
for  a  school-teacher  than  for  a  preacher.  The  quali- 
ties that  made  him  popular  in  college  were  of  more 
value  in  political  life  and  he  became  in  turn  a  Mem- 
ber of  the  New  Hampshire  Provincial  Assembly, 
Judge  Advocate  of  Admiralty  in  New  Hampshire, 
His  British  Majesty's  Attorney  for  New  Hampshire, 
Attorney  General  of  New  Hampshire,  Member  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  New  Hampshire,  Member  of  New 
Hampshire  Constitutional  Convention,  United  States 
Representative  from  New  Hampshire,  President  of 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  President  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Constitutional  Convention. 

56 


WHEN   WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

In  view  of  the  removal  to  Princeton  in  1756, 
new  college  laws  were  enacted  to  suit  the  new  con- 
ditions of  residence  in  one  building.  Under  these 
laws  the  tutors  were  required  frequently  to  "visit 
the  pupils  in  their  chambers,  to  direct  and  encourage 
them  in  their  studies  and  to  see  that  they  were 
diligent  at  their  proper  business."  No  "scholar" 
was  allowed  "to  make  any  treat  or  entertainment  in 
his  chamber  on  any  account,  or  have  any  private 
meal  without  having  first  obtained  liberty  of  the 
President  or  tutors."  "No  hallowing  or  any  bois- 
terous noise"  was  "suffered  or  walking  in  the  gal- 
lery at  the  time  of  study." 

Whoever  did  any  damage  by  cutting  or  marking 
in  any  part  of  the  college  was  required  to  pay  four- 
fold the  real  damage.  President  Burr  was  very 
much  concerned  lest  his  boisterous  boys  should 
damage  the  handsome  new  building  at  Princeton. 
His  laws  also  provided  that  "what  damage  is  done 
and  the  authors  cannot  be  detected  shall  be  levied 
equally  on  them  that  live  in  the  room  or  in  the  gal- 
lery where  it  is  done."  When  the  tutors  made 
their  rounds  of  the  students'  rooms  (three  times  a 
day)  they  signified  their  presence  by  a  stamp  at  the 
door.  Any  student  who  imitated  this  signal  was 
subject  to  a  fine  of  five  shillings.  If  a  student  re- 
fused to  open  his  door,  the  president  or  tutor  was 
authorized  by  law  to  break  it  down.  In  later  years 
the  students  put  up  double  doors,  so  that  when  the 

57 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

outer  barrier  was  smashed,  they  still  had  time  to 
conceal  incriminating  evidence.  The  officers  could 
call  on  the  students  to  assist  in  suppressing  any 
riot,  refusal  of  such  assistance  being  punishable  as 
in  case  of  contempt  of  authority.  Every  "scholar" 
was  required  to  keep  his  room  "neat  and  clean", 
and  when  he  entered  the  building  he  was  required 
to  clean  his  shoes  to  prevent  soiling  the  floors. 

A  charge  of  four  shillings  a  quarter  was  imposed 
for  sweeping  a  student's  room  and  making  the  beds. 
Any  student  who  desired  to  smoke  or  chew  tobacco 
might  do  so  at  a  charge  of  five  shillings  a  quarter. 
Students  necessarily  absent  from  college  were  re- 
quired to  pay  one  shilling  a  week  during  their 
absence  to  prevent  the  loss  which  the  steward  would 
otherwise  sustain.  There  were  laws  against  con- 
tracting needless  or  extravagant  debts,  or  making 
or  reading  publicly  any  "declamations  which  might 
tend  to  injure  or  expose  the  character  of  any  person." 
The  law  against  drinking  and  entertainment  was 
revised  to  read  as  follows  :  No  undergraduate  was 
allowed  "to  bring  or  drink  in  his  or  any  other  room 
in  college  any  wine  or  metheglin  or  any  other  dis- 
tilled liquors",  on  penalty  of  five  shillings  for  the 
first  offense,  for  the  second,  admonition,  and  for  the 
third,  expulsion. 

In  1758  the  tuition  was  raised  from  fifteen  shillings 
a  quarter  to  four  pounds  a  year,  a  33^%  increase. 
An  interesting  law  provided  that  neither  the  presi- 

58 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

dent  nor  any  other  officer  could  receive  any  present 
from  a  student,  a  rule  evidently  aimed  against  at- 
tempts to  get  into  the  good  graces  of  the  faculty 
by  corrupt  methods. 

When  Davies  came  to  the  presidency,  the  laws 
were  revised  by  adding  "vulgar  arithmetic"  as  a 
requisite  for  admission ;  by  permitting  a  student  to 
read  the  Scriptures  at  morning  prayers  and  sub- 
stituting psalmody  for  Scripture  reading  at  evening 
prayers ;  by  giving  the  faculty  discretionary  powers 
in  inflicting  pecuniary  punishments  and  substituting 
such  other  punishments  as  might  seem  appropriate  in 
the  discretion  of  the  authorities,  and  by  requiring  a 
student  before  receiving  his  degree  to  present  a 
certificate  from  the  steward  to  the  effect  that  he  had 
discharged  all  his  financial  obligations  to  the  col- 
lege. Another  law  of  Davies'  time  required  the 
three  upper  classes  to  make  collections  of  lines  or 
sentences  in  the  Latin  or  Greek  authors  they  were 
reading,  such  as  moral  reflections,  proverbs  or 
maxims,  similes  or  descriptions,  strokes  of  wit  or 
oratory  that  might  strike  their  fancy  —  these  col- 
lections to  be  submitted  periodically  to  the  presi- 
dent or  tutors. 

In  addition  to  the  "Orders  and  Customs"  adopted 
from  time  to  time  for  the  "guidance  of  the  students", 
there  were  regulations  for  the  dining  room,  the  but- 
tery, etc.  From  the  first,  seniority  was  recognized 
and  enforced  by  official  regulations,  as  it  is  now  by 

59 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

public  opinion.  The  authorities  and  all  superiors 
were  to  be  treated  in  a  becoming  manner  with  "that 
respect  that  is  due  to  every  one  in  his  proper  place." 
Accordingly  it  was  decreed  that  "every  scholar 
shall  keep  his  hat  off  about  10  rods  to  the  President 
and  5  to  the  Tutors";  that  "Every  Freshman  sent 
on  an  Errand  shall  go  and  do  it  faithfully  and  make 
quick  return"  ;  that  "Every  scholar  shall  rise  up  and 
make  obeisance  when  the  President  goes  in  or  out 
of  the  Hall  or  enters  the  Pulpit  on  days  of  religious 
worship";  that  an  "inferior",  when  walking  with 
a  "superior",  "shall  give  him  the  highest  place"; 
that  "inferiors",  "when  they  first  come  into  the 
company  of  a  superior  or  speak  to  him,  shall  respect 
by  pulling  their  Hats";  that  when  meeting  at  a 
door  or  entrance,  an  "inferior"  was  required  to  "give 
place  to  a  superior"  ;  that  an  "inferior",  overtaking 
or  meeting  a  "superior"  going  up  or  down  stairs, 
"shall  stop,  giving  him  the  banister  side";  that  an 
"inferior"  "shall  not  enter  a  superior's  or  even  an 
equal's  room  without  knocking  at  the  door"  ;  that  an 
"inferior"  "shall  never  intrude  himself  upon  a 
superior";  that  an  "inferior"  "shall  never  be  first 
in  any  undertaking  in  which  a  superior  is  engaged 
or  about  to  engage ";  that  an  "inferior"  "shall 'never 
use  any  indecent  or  rude  language  in  a  superior's 
presence  such  as  making  a  noise,  calling  loud  or 
speaking  at  a  distance  unless  spoken  to  by  him  and  if 
called  or  spoken  to  by  him  if  within  hearing  shall  give 

60 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER   THE   KING 

a  direct  pertinent  answer  concluding  with  Sir." 
Moreover  it  was  decreed  that  a  student  "shall  call 
none  by  a  nickname";  that  all  students  "shall 
treat  strangers  and  people  residing  in  town  with  all 
proper  complaisance  &  good  manners";  and  that 
a  student  "shall  not  appear  out  drcss'd  in  an  in- 
decent slovenly  manner,  but  must  be  neat  and  com- 
pleat." 

At  meals  the  several  classes  were  required  to  keep 
their  respective  tables  without  wandering  from  one 
to  another,  and  mingling  of  superiors  and  inferiors 
was  forbidden.  There  were  three  tables,  with 
tutors  presiding  at  the  first  and  second,  and  the 
grammar-school  master  at  the  third.  The  seniors 
and  freshmen  had  the  first  table,  the  juniors  and 
sophomores  the  second,  and  the  grammar-school 
boys  the  third.  In  case  of  overflow,  the  freshmen 
and  sophomores  were  accommodated  at  the  head  of 
the  grammar-school  table,  the  sophomores  taking 
precedence. 

At  each  table  the  classes  sat  in  alphabetical  order, 
the  student  whose  name  came  first  in  the  alphabet 
sitting  on  the  right  of  the  tutor.  This,  however, 
applied  only  to  the  three  upper  classes,  the  freshmen 
sitting  below  their  superiors.  By  a  system  of  ro- 
tation, every  student  changed  his  seat  every  day, 
moving  up  a  seat  until  when  he  reached  the  head  of 
the  line  he  moved  over  on  the  left  of  the  tutor.  This 
arrangement  was  not  a  mere  whim  on  the  part  of 

61 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

the  authorities,  for  it  was  provided  that  "he  that 
sits  highest  shall  always  carve",  that  "he  that  sits 
opposite  to  him  cut  bread",  and  that  "he  that  sits 
next  on  the  right  hand  serve  in  dealing  out  provi- 
sions." Every  sixth  man  from  the  top  on  the  right 
of  the  turn  carved,  and  likewise  his  opposite  cut 
bread.  Accordingly,  every  student  carved  once  in 
five  days,  a  privilege  which  was  highly  prized  because 
of  the  opportunity  it  afforded  the  carver  to  lay  aside 
a  choice  portion  for  himself.  The  law  establishing 
this  intricate  system  wisely  provided  that  "none 
shall  eagerly  catch  at  a  share  but  wait  till  he  is  served 
in  his  turn." 

All  students  were  required  to  come  to  meals  im- 
mediately upon  the  ringing  of  the  bell,  and  none 
could  remain  after  his  table  was  dismissed.  Special 
permission  was  required  to  leave  the  dining  room, 
nor  were  laggards  who  missed  a  meal  allowed  to 
come  in  late.  No  student  at  any  meal  was  permitted 
to  enter  the  dining  room  before  a  tutor,  a  master,  or 
a  bachelor  had  gone  in.  Students  who  pilfered 
candles  from  the  dining  room,  or  bread  or  other 
provisions,  were  in  danger  of  the  law  against  con- 
tempt of  authority.  Students  were  especially  for- 
bidden to  "loiter  about  the  kitchen  fire  and  inter- 
rupt the  servants." 

As  the  students  were  forbidden  to  enter  a  "tavern, 
beer  house,  or  any  such  place",  to  ameliorate  their 
lot  a  buttery  was  established,  and  the  butler's  duties 

62 


WHEN   WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE   KING 

minutely  defined.  The  butler  was  required  to  "at- 
tend his  business"  in  the  buttery  three  times  a  day, 
from  breakfast  till  eight  o'clock,  from  twelve  to  two, 
and  again  in  the  evening  from  five  to  sunset.  Special 
permission  was  required  from  the  authorities  to  get 
into  the  buttery  at  any  other  time.  The  butler 
was  admonished  "to  take  care  to  serve  everyone  in 
his  turn",  and  it  was  "recommended  to  those  of  in- 
ferior standing  as  piece  of  good  breeding  in  a  general 
way  to  give  place  to  superiors."  The  butler  was 
required  to  render  bills  once  a  month  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  steward,  in  order  to  prevent  extravagance. 

As  the  boys  were  evidently  making  too  free  use  of 
the  kitchen,  additional  legislation  was  supplied  to 
guarantee  its  sanctity.  No  students  were  to  go  into 
the  kitchen  on  any  pretense,  but  after  a  new  kitchen 
was  erected  outside  of  Nassau  Hall,  "to  their 
making  Tea  in  the  afternoon"  they  were  permitted 
to  "have  a  fire  in  the  old  kitchen  room."  A  sick 
student  could  apply  to  the  butler  for  what  he  re- 
quired instead  of  his  ordinary  meal,  but  laxness  in 
keeping  meal  hours  was  strictly  frowned  upon. 

A  limit  was  placed  on  the  purchases  at  the  buttery. 
No  student  was  allowed  to  run  up  a  bill  with  the 
butler  larger  than  thirty-two  shillings  in  a  quarter, 
"as  that  sum  is  found  by  a  large  calculation  suf- 
ficient for  a  genteel  and  plentiful  supply  of  such 
things  as  are  ordinarily  needed  from  thence."  It 
was  particularly  ordered  that  "no  one  shall  have 

63 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

more  than  half  a  pound  of  butter  at  any  one  time." 
The  foregoing  and  other  rules  were  adopted  and 
revised  from  time  to  time  as  experience  or  occasion 
seemed  to  the  authorities  to  demand.  President 
Green,  whose  Draconian  reign  is  described  in  a  later 
chapter,  decreed  that  no  student  should  "resort  to 
any  house  or  shop  where  confectionery,  or  other 
articles  of  diet  or  drink  are  sold."  A  student  was 
liable  to  expulsion  if  an  indecent  picture  or  any 
"lascivious,  impious  or  irreligious  book"  was  dis- 
covered in  his  possession,  and  "lying,  profaneness, 
drunkenness,  theft,  uncleanness,  playing  at  unlaw- 
ful games"  and  "other  gross  immoralities"  were 
offenses  subject  to  like  punishment.  At  one  time 
students  were  not  even  permitted  to  keep  "any  horse 
or  riding  beast",  a  dog,  a  gun,  or  other  firearms  or 
ammunition  of  any  kind.  In  1817,  the  year  of  the 
"Great  Rebellion",  students  were  specifically  for- 
bidden to  have  in  their  possession  any  "sword, 
dirk,  sword-cane,  or  any  deadly  weapon  whatever." 
For  over  half  a  century  there  were  special  laws 
against  dueling. 

If  the  early  rules  with  regard  to  superiors  and  in- 
feriors, the  dining  room  and  buttery,  etc.,  seem  to  the 
modern  undergraduate  to  smack  of  paternalism  and 
the  kindergarten,  in  some  respects  they  were  scarcely 
less  exacting  than  those  which  the  students  nowadays 
impose  upon  themselves,  or  rather,  the  upper  class- 
men impose  upon  the  freshmen.  Note  for  example 

64 


Murray-Dodge  Hall 


WHEN   WE   LIVED   UNDER   THE   KIXG 

the   following    "College    Customs"    from    a    recent 
issue  of  the  "Students'  Hand  Book"  : 

Freshmen  should  not  wear  college  colors  in  any  form. 

Only  black  shoes,  socks  and  ties  may  be  worn.  Fresh- 
men should  not  turn  up  their  trousers  or  have  cuffs  on 
them.  Shirts  with  soft  collars  are  forbidden,  and  fancy 
vests  of  no  descriptions  are  to  be  worn. 

After  the  nine  o'clock  bell  has  been  rung  in  the  evening, 
Freshmen  are  expected  to  remain  in  their  rooms. 

The  above  restrictions  apply  until  Washington's  Birth- 
day only. 

Until  the  third  Saturday  in  May  the  regulation  head- 
dress for  Freshmen  is  a  black  skull  cap.  After  that  date, 
straw  hats  may  be  worn. 

Black  rain  coats,  black  rubber  hats,  or  black  worsted 
caps  are  permissible  at  any  time. 

Freshmen  should  not  smoke  on  the  streets  or  campus. 

Playing  football  or  baseball  on  the  campus  is  forbidden 
to  Freshmen.  This  restriction  does  not  apply  to  Brokaw 
Field. 

Freshmen  should  not  walk  on  Prospect  Avenue  [now 
revoked],  or  the  walk  in  front  of  Nassau  Hall. 

Seniority  of  class  determines  the  possession  of  the 
sidewalk,  therefore,  Freshmen  are  expected  to  get  off  the 
walk  for  every  other  class. 

Unless  accompanied  by  visitors  Freshmen  should  not 
occupy  seats  in  the  grand  stand  at  University  Field. 

Freshmen  are  always  expected  to  carry  wood  for  the 
bonfire  celebrations  of  important  athletic  victories. 

The  riding  of  bicycles  by  Freshmen  is  forbidden. 

Freshmen  may  not  wear  white  flannels,  knickerbockers 
or  mackinaws. 

Freshmen  are  not  permitted  to  walk  between  the 

65 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

large  elm  and  fence  to  the  left  (on  entering)  of  the 
chapel. 

Freshmen  are  not  to  go  to  chapel  or  class  without  a 
coat. 

Playing  marbles  is  a  privilege  of  the  Juniors  only. 

The  wearing  of  silk  hats  is  the  privilege  of  Juniors  and 
Seniors. 

The  spinning  of  tops  is  the  privilege  of  Seniors  only. 

The  "Horseshoe"  seats  in  Alexander  Hall  are  reserved 
for  Seniors.  All  Sophomores  and  Freshmen  must  sit  in 
the  gallery. 

Only  Seniors  have  the  privilege  of  sitting  around  the 
Sun  Dial. 

The  above  sounds  like  a  pretty  strict  creed  to  follow, 
but  it's  all  a  part  of  the  old  place,  and  few  men  are  small 
enough  to  let  these  petty  restrictions  worry  them. 

That  the  students  of  the  decade  preceding  the 
Revolution  did  not  take  their  public  speaking 
merely  as  a  perfunctory  task,  is  plain  from  the  fact 
that  this  was  the  period  of  the  beginning  of  those 
historic  literary  societies,  Whig  and  Clio  Halls, 
which  still  flourish,  the  oldest  institutions  of  their 
kind  in  this  country.  The  growing  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence demanded  expression,  and  out  of  this 
demand  came  the  Plain  Dealing  Club  and  the  Well 
Meaning  Club,  two  student  organizations  devoted 
primarily  to  the  cultivation  of  public  speaking,  and 
especially  to  the  discussion  of  the  big  questions  that 
were  firing  the  imaginations  of  the  young  Princeton 
patriots. 

66 


WHEN  WE   LIVED   UNDER  THE   KING 

The  discussion  of  public  questions  soon  gave 
place  to  a  "paper  war"  in  the  rivalry  between  the 
two  clubs,  and  for  the  peace  of  the  college  the  faculty 
suppressed  them.  The  fires  of  revolutionary  ora- 
tory, however,  could  not  be  extinguished,  and  after 
a  year,  the  organizations  were  revived  with  new 
names.  Under  the  leadership  of  James  Madison, 
then  a  sophomore,  in  1769  the  Plain  Dealing  Club  was 
revived  as  the  American  Whig  Society,  and  a  year 
later  the  Well  Meaning  Club  (which  William  Pater- 
son  of  the  class  of  1763,  afterward  Associate  Justice 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  had  been  in- 
strumental in  founding)  was  reorganized  as  the 
Cliosophic  Society. 

The  societies  were  now  officially  recognized  and 
given  headquarters  in  Nassau  Hall.  The  only  un- 
forbidden  outlet  for  excess  student  energy,  they  were 
soon  at  war  again,  and  their  rivalry  sometimes  be- 
came extremely  bitter.  The  modern  undergraduate, 
whose  interest  is  divided  between  a  multitude  of 
"extra-curriculum  activities",  can  have  little  con- 
ception of  the  dominant  place  these  old  societies 
long  occupied  in  college  life,  or  of  the  fierceness  of 
the  rivalry  between  them. 

Their  proceedings  being  secret,  and  their  member- 
ship mutually  exclusive,  the  college  was  divided  into 
two  hostile  camps.  Not  to  be  a  member  of  one  of 
the  Halls  was  a  stigma  and  reproach,  and  at  one 
time  the  feeling,  ran  so  high  that  members  of  dif- 

67 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

ferent  Halls  did  not  room  together,  all  Whigs  having 
their  rooms  on  one  floor  of  Nassau  Hall  and  all 
Clios  on  another.  Campaigning  for  new  members 
was  the  dominant  feature  of  the  opening  of  college, 
and  Hall  rivalry  extended  to  the  keenest  competition 
for  Commencement  honors.  Before  intercollegiate 
competition  arose,  the  Halls  strongly  stimulated  col- 
lege loyalty.  The  advantages  they  provided  for 
development  in  speaking  and  writing  were  recog- 
nized as  of  equal  importance  with  the  work  of  the 
curriculum.  Beginning  with  1783,  their  chosen 
orators  represented  the  Halls  on  the  Commencement 
stage  and  in  reading  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
on  the  annual  occasions  of  the  celebration  of  the 
Fourth  of  July.  The  former  custom  still  survives 
in  the  speaking  of  the  four  Junior  Orators  who  each 
year  represent  their  Halls  on  the  Commencement 
programme. 

In  1838  permanent  homes  were  built  for  the 
Halls,  the  twin  Greek  temples  on  the  south  side  of 
the  quadrangle,  which  a  half  century  later  were 
replaced  by  the  present  marble  buildings.  The 
traditional  work  of  the  societies  has  continued  with 
added  social  features,  which  the  more  ample  head- 
quarters permit.  And  though  the  distractions  of 
modern  college  life  and  the  greater  diversity  of  oc- 
cupation for  which  the  students  are  preparing  have 
deprived  the  Halls  of  their  former  dominant  prestige, 
it  is  as  true  now  as  it  always  was  that  Hall  training 

68 


WHEN  WE   LIVED  UNDER  THE   KING 

is  an  invaluable  part  of  a  student's  four  years  at 
Princeton.  Moreover,  a  respectable  number  of 
students  have  the  good  sense  and  foresight  to  take 
advantage  of  this  training,  which  is  now  recognized 
by  the  faculty  as  counting  toward  a  degree.  It  is 
greatly  to  the  credit  of  Whig  and  Clio  that  the 
students  trained  within  their  walls  have  worthily 
maintained  Princeton's  traditions  in  public  speak- 
ing by  winning  for  their  alma  mater  her  fair  share  of 
the  annual  debates  with  Yale  and  Harvard ;  and  the 
names  of  the  many  members  of  these  old  societies 
who  have  been  conspicuous  in  national  affairs  con- 
stitute a  distinguished  roll  of  honor. 


69 


CHAPTER   II 
PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NATION 

NO  college  had  so  large  a  part  as  Princeton  in 
the  war  for  independence  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  United  States  of  America.  Her  trustees, 
faculty,  students,  and  alumni  were  pioneers  in  the 
movement  that  led  up  to  the  separation  from  Great 
Britain,  and  more  than  those  of  any  other  educational 
institution  they  were  conspicuous  in  making  the 
Revolution  a  success  and  in  framing  the  Constitu- 
tion under  which  we  live.  On  her  soil  was  fought 
the  battle  which  in  the  darkest  days  of  the  Revolu- 
tion turned  the  tide  toward  a  successful  issue  for 
the  American  cause.  Through  her  borders  swept  al- 
ternately the  contending  armies,  and  her  buildings, 
in  turn  the  quarters  of  the  British  and  Colonial 
troops,  fell  a  prey  to  the  devastation  of  war ;  the  very 
life  of  the  college  was  all  but  extinguished  ;  both  in 
council  and  in  war  the  rolls  of  the  patriot  cause 
bristle  with  Princeton  names ;  and  at  the  close  of 
the  long  struggle  old  Nassau  Hall  was  for  a  time  the 
national  Capitol,  and  within  its  battle-scarred  walls 
the  Continental  Congress,  of  which  a  Princeton 

70 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING  NATION 

trustee  was  president,  received  the  first  authentic 
news  of  the  signing  of  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace. 
The  first  foreign  minister  accredited  to  the  new  re- 
public after  Great  Britain's  acknowledgment  of  in- 
dependence was  formally  welcomed  in  Nassau  Hall, 
and  there  Washington  received  from  Congress  the 
thanks  of  a  grateful  people,  whom  his  military  genius 
had  delivered  from  subserviency  to  a  pathetically 
narrow,  dull-witted,  and  bigoted  king,  and  his 
shortsighted  and  servile  ministers.  And  in  the 
crisis  of  the  disintegrating  confederacy  of  loosely 
affiliated  States,  it  was  again  the  graduates  of 
Princeton  who  played  the  leading  part  in  bringing 
order  out  of  chaos  and  in  establishing  on  a  firm  foun- 
dation the  cohesive  and  nicely  balanced  union  of 
separate  yet  inseparable  units.  Again  under  the 
Constitution  which  the  graduates  of  Princeton  had 
been  the  leaders  in  framing,  her  sons  were  con- 
spicuous in  both  state  and  Federal  service.  More- 
over, in  the  early  years  of  the  republic,  when  once 
again  England  assailed  our  national  existence,  a 
statesman  who  had  learned  at  Princeton  the  lessons 
of  democracy  and  nation-building  sat  in  the  presi- 
dential chair,  and  now  a  century  later,  in  this  time 
of  unprecedented  international  crises,  Princeton's 
early  traditions  of  public  service  and  of  mainte- 
nance of  the  nation's  honor  are  revived  by  the  large 
number  of  her  alumni  and  students  who  are  volun- 
teering in  the  cause  of  the  Allies,  and  particularly  by 

71 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

that  eminent  graduate  who  went  from  the  presidency 
of  the  college  to  the  presidency  of  the  republic. 

The  devastation  from  which  Princeton  suffered 
during  the  Revolution,  the  dispersion  of  her  stu- 
dents, and  the  destruction  of  many  of  the  records, 
prevent  the  compilation  of  anything  approaching 
completeness  in  the  roll  of  her  sons  who  served  their 
country  in  its  formative  period.  Many  a  name  which 
deserves  recognition  on  that  roll  of  honor  must  for- 
ever remain  unknown.  Of  those  graduated  before 
1800  two  were  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, namely,  Richard  Stockton  of  the  first 
class  graduated  (1748)  and  his  son-in-law,  Doctor 
Benjamin  Rush,  of  the  class  of  1760;  in  addition 
the  president  of  the  college,  Doctor  Witherspoon, 
signed  the  Declaration,  and  his  influence  was  an 
important  factor  in  its  adoption.  Anticipating  the 
formal  Declaration  by  more  than  a  year,  three  other 
graduates  were  signers  of  the  celebrated  Mecklen- 
burg Resolutions :  Ephraim  Brevard  of  the  class 
of  1768  was  its  author,  and  Waightstill  Avery  and 
Hezekiah  James  Balch,  both  of  the  class  of  1766, 
joined  with  Brevard  in  signing  that  pioneer  docu- 
ment. There  were  no  less  than  eighty-nine  Prince- 
ton graduates  who  served  as  officers  of  the  army 
(there  is  no  record  of  those  who  served  as  privates). 
Twenty-seven  eighteenth-century  graduates  were 
members  of  the  Continental  Congress,  thirty  were 
members  of  the  United  States  Senate,  fifty-five  were 

72 


PRINCETON'S   PART  IN  MAKING  NATION 

members  of  the  Federal  House  of  Representatives, 
five  were  members  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  (one  of  these,  Oliver  Ellsworth,  being  the 
Chief  Justice),  and  sixty-seven  served  as  judges  of 
other  courts ;  fourteen  were  cabinet  officers,  seven- 
teen were  governors  of  States,  and  nine  graduates 
and  one  non-graduate  were  members  of  the  conven- 
tion which  framed  and  adopted  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  In  addition,  a  large  number  of 
graduates  served  as  members  of  provincial  congresses, 
and  in  numerous  state  and  municipal  offices,  while 
several  represented  their  country  at  foreign  courts. 
At  least  thirty-six  Princeton  graduates  were  dele- 
gates to  the  constitutional  conventions  of  the 
several  States,  from  New  Hampshire  on  the  north 
to  Georgia  and  Kentucky  on  the  south,  which  is 
striking  evidence  of  how  widely  Princeton's  influence 
had  extended  throughout  the  country  even  before 
the  half-century  anniversary  of  its  birth. 

Princeton's  influence  in  the  formative  period  of 
American  history  is  well  illustrated  by  the  number 
of  her  graduates  who  were  members  of  the  United 
States  Constitutional  Convention  in  1787.  Of  the 
fifty-five  delegates  to  the  convention  twenty-five 
were  college  graduates.  Oxford  and  Glasgow  con- 
tributed one  each,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
two,  Columbia  two,  William  and  Mary  three,  Harvard 
three,  Yale  four,  and  Princeton  nine.  These  nine 
Princeton  graduates  who  assisted  in  framing  the 

73 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Federal  Constitution  were,  in  the  order  of  graduation  : 
Alexander  Martin,  1756,  of  North  Carolina  ;  William 
Paterson,  1763,  of  New  Jersey;  Oliver  Ellsworth, 
1766,  of  Connecticut ;  Luther  Martin,  1766,  of  Mary- 
land ;  William  Churchill  Houston,  1768,  of  New 
Jersey;  Gunning  Bedford,  Jr.,  1771,  of  Delaware; 
James  Madison,  1771,  of  Virginia;  William  Rich- 
ardson Davie,  1776,  of  North  Carolina;  and  Jona- 
than Dayton,  1776,  of  New  Jersey.  Of  the  Columbia 
men,  one  was  Alexander  Hamilton,  whose  first  choice 
of  a  college  was  Princeton  ;  and  George  Washington, 
the  presiding  officer,  himself  not  a  college  graduate, 
was  more  closely  affiliated  with  Princeton  than  with 
any  other  college.  General  Washington's  association 
with  Princeton  and  Princeton  men  is  summarized  on 
later  pages. 

But  what  is  even  more  significant  than  the  pre- 
ponderating number  of  Princeton  men  in  the  con- 
vention is  the  historic  fact  that  her  alumni  were  con- 
spicuous among  its  acknowledged  leaders.  The  two 
plans  which  the  convention  debated,  the  Virginia  and 
the  New  Jersey  plans,  were  largely  the  work  of  Prince- 
tonians ;  the  former,  basing  representation  on  popu- 
lation, was  inspired  by  Madison,  and  the  latter,  in 
which  state  equality  was  the  basis  of  represen- 
tation, was  devised  by  Paterson.  From  the  basic 
principles  involved  in  these  two  plans  emerged 
the  outstanding  controversy  of  the  convention. 
Two  other  Princetonians,  Ellsworth  and  Davie, 

74 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING  NATION 

led  in  framing  the  compromise  whereby  the  small 
States  were  given  equal  senatorial  representation 
with  the  large  States,  and  the  membership  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  was  based  upon 
population. 

Madison,  whose  plan  in  the  main  was  adopted, 
was  a  very  busy  member  of  the  convention.  He 
was  its  most  painstaking  delegate,  the  leader  in  the 
debates,  and  the  most  active  author  of  the  finished 
draft  of  the  Constitution.  Moreover,  it  is  to 
Madison  that  we  owe  the  most  complete  record  of 
the  convention's  proceedings.  Madison  took  his 
duties  as  a  delegate  with  the  conscientiousness  that 
the  great  occasion  demanded.  Upon  his  appoint- 
ment he  began  setting  down  his  ideas  on  government, 
and  he  entered  upon  his  duties  with  his  own  care- 
fully prepared  records,  "the  result  of  profound 
study  begun  twenty  years  before  at  Princeton",  as 
Gaillard  Hunt  tells  us,  in  his  life  of  Madison. 

In  the  introduction  of  his  journal  of  the  conven- 
tion, Madison  says  that  he  chose  a  seat  in  front  of 
the  presiding  member,  with  the  other  members  on 
his  right  and  left  hands ;  that  in  this  favorable 
position  for  hearing  all  that  passed,  he  noted  down 
all  the  proceedings  "in  terms  legible  and  in  abbrevi- 
ations and  marks  intelligible  to  myself  .  .  .  and 
losing  no  moment  unnecessarily  between  adjourn- 
ment and  reassembly  of  the  convention,  I  was  en- 
abled to  write  out  my  daily  notes  during  the  session, 

75 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

or  within  a  few  days  after  its  close."  In  Madison's 
statement  that  part  of  his  daily  record  of  the  con- 
vention was  set  down  "in  abbreviations  and  marks 
intelligible  to  myself"  is  revealed  the  interesting 
fact  that,  like  the  Princetonian  who  followed  him 
in  the  presidency  one  hundred  years  later,  he  was 
skilled  in  the  use  of  shorthand. 

Ex-President  Taft  has  summarized  Princeton's 
early  service  to  the  nation  as  follows:  "Princeton 
men  may  well  fondly  cherish  the  close  association  of 
their  Alma  Mater  with  the  foundation  and  growth 
of  the  Nation.  Not  one  of  her  sister  universities, 
honorable  as  may  be  its  record  in  having  furnished 
men  for  the  service  of  the  State  in  the  birth  and 
early  crises  of  our  Government,  can  make  itself  as 
Princeton  can  so  much  a  part  of  the  history  of  the 
struggle  for  independence  and  of  the  organization 
and  establishment  of  the  Union." 

It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  a  man  of 
the  versatile  talents,  the  great  energy,  and  the 
indomitable  will  of  the  sturdy  Scotchman,  John 
Witherspoon,  —  a  man  destined  to  become,  as  John 
Adams  said,  "as  high  a  Son  of  Liberty  as  any  man  in 
America ",  —  came  to  the  presidency  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey  at  the  critical  time  when  the 
spirit  of  resistance  to  Parliamentary  encroachments 
was  spreading  throughout  the  colonies.  Already  at 
Princeton  that  spirit  was  but  ill  concealed  by  the 
authorities  of  the  college ;  and  the  undergraduates, 

76 


PRINCETON'S   PART  IN  MAKING   NATION 

under  no  such  restraint  as  their  more  cautious  and 
responsible  mentors,  were  openly  manifesting  re- 
bellion against  the  Crown.  We  have  seen  how,  as 
early  as  1765,  the  youthful  patriots  at  Princeton 
had  appeared  in  clothes  of  American  manufacture 
at  Commencement  as  a  demonstration  against  the 
Stamp  Act.  This  outward  manifestation  of  their 
sentiments  was  significant  of  what  was  going  on  in 
campus  discussion.  The  stagecoaches  between  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  which  made  Princeton  an 
overnight  stopping  place,  brought  to  the  little  vil- 
lage from  time  to  time  travelers  whose  recountal  of 
the  rising  tide  of  resistance  in  New  England  and 
Virginia  kept  the  campus  in  a  patriotic  ferment; 
when  in  1770  the  merchants  in  New  York  disre- 
garded their  nonimportation  resolution,  there  was 
great  indignation  at  Princeton ;  and  when  the  letter 
of  the  New  York  merchants  suggesting  to  the  mer- 
chants of  Philadelphia  that  they  follow  their  ex- 
ample came  through  the  village,  it  was  intercepted 
by  the  young  rebels  and  burned  on  the  campus. 
The  New  York  Gazette  of  July  16,  1770,  reported 
that  the  students,  "fired  with  a  just  Indignation  on 
reading  the  infamous  Letter,  ...  at  the  tolling  of 
the  College  Bell,  went  in  Procession  to  a  Place  front- 
ing the  College,  and  Burnt  the  Letter  by  the  Hands 
of  a  Hangman,  hired  for  the  Purpose,  with  hearty 
Wishes,  that  the  Names  of  all  Promoters  of  such  a 
daring  Breach  of  Faith,  may  be  blasted  in  the  Eyes 

77 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

of  every  Lover  of  Liberty,  and  their  Names  handed 
down  to  Posterity  as  Betrayers  of  their  Country." 

James  Madison,  one  of  these  incendiaries,  writing 
to  a  friend,  speaks  of  the  "base  conduct  of  the  mer- 
chants in  New  York",  and  says,  "the  letter  to  the 
merchants  in  Philadelphia  requesting  their  concur- 
rence was  burned  by  the  students  of  this  place  in  the 
college  yard,  all  of  them  appearing  in  their  black 
gowns  and  the  bell  tolling  .  .  .  there  are  about  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  in  the  College,  and  in  the 
Grammar  School,  all  of  them  in  American  cloth." 

The  following  year  on  the  Commencement  stage, 
Philip  Freneau,  the  "Poet  of  the  Revolution", 
joined  with  Hugh  Henry  Brackenridge  in  a  poetic 
dialogue  on  "The  Rising  Glory  of  America."  The 
patriotic  sentiments  of  this  dialogue  were  in  marked 
contrast  with  the  similar  Commencement  perform- 
ance ten  years  before,  on  "The  Military  Glory  of 
Great  Britain."  It  is  significant  of  the  attitude  of 
the  college  authorities  that  on  a  public  occasion  such 
as  Commencement  the  undergraduates  were  per- 
mitted to  express  such  opposition  to  the  Crown,  four 
years  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
adopted. 

Two  years  before  that  historic  event  there  was 
another  patriotic  demonstration  at  Princeton.  To 
show  their  resentment  of  Governor  Hutchinson's 
part  in  the  "Boston  Tea  Party",  the  Princeton  stu- 
dents raided  the  steward's  storeroom  and  made  off 

78 


PRINCETON'S   PART  IN  MAKING  NATION 

with  his  entire  supply  of  tea,  which  they  burned  on 
the  campus,  together  with  the  Massachusetts 
Governor's  effigy.  Charles  C.  Beatty  of  the  class 
of  1775,  writing  home,  said:  "Last  Week,  to  show 
our  patriotism,  we  gathered  all  the  steward's  winter 
store  of  tea  and  having  made  a  fire  on  the  campus 
we  there  burned  near  a  dozen  pounds,  tolled  the 
bell,  and  made  many  spirited  resolves.  But  this 
was  not  all,  poor  Mr.  Hutchinson's  effigy  shared  the 
same  fate  of  the  tea,  having  a  tea  canister  tied  about 
his  neck."  In  this  Princeton  tea  party  were  young 
men  from  all  the  colonies,  some  of  whom  were  des- 
tined to  play  conspicuous  parts  in  the  stirring  events 
of  the  years  immediately  succeeding. 

It  was  in  this  rebellious  atmosphere  that  John 
Witherspoon  found  himself  upon  his  arrival  in 
America.  Such  an  atmosphere  was  very  much  to 
his  liking.  He  quickly  became  a  thorough-going 
American,  and  it  was  his  bold  leadership,  both  in 
the  life  of  the  college  and  in  public  events,  that 
more  than  any  other  factor  gave  Princeton  her  con- 
spicuous place  in  the  Revolutionary  period  and  the 
early  years  of  the  republic. 

Upon  the  death  of  President  Finley  in  1766,  as 
the  trustees  saw  no  available  candidate  for  the 
presidency  in  America,  they  turned  to  Scotland, 
and  in  John  Witherspoon,  minister  of  the  flourishing 
church  at  Paisley,  a  graduate  of  Edinburgh,  and  a 
Doctor  of  Divinity  of  St.  Andrews,  leader  of  the 

79 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

conservative  party  in  the  Scotch  General  Assembly, 
they  found  the  man  for  whom  they  were  searching. 

In  August,  1768,  Doctor  Witherspoon  and  his 
family  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  and  when  a  few  days 
later  they  came  on  to  Princeton,  the  students  and 
tutors  met  them  at  the  Province  Line  and  escorted 
them  into  town,  Nassau  Hall  being  brilliantly  il- 
luminated in  honor  of  the  arrival  of  the  great  war 
president. 

Witherspoon  at  once  entered  vigorously  upon  his 
administration,  which  was  to  continue  twenty-six 
years,  the  longest  presidency  but  one  in  the  history 
of  the  college.  It  spanned  the  entire  Revolutionary 
period  and  continued  seven  years  beyond  the  date 
of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  it  was 
fraught  with  the  highest  consequences  to  the  college 
as  well  as  to  the  country.  It  not  only  gave  Prince- 
ton scholarship  a  wider  scope ;  it  lifted  the  college 
into  national  prominence.  On  account  of  his  pro- 
gressive Americanism,  Tory  families  that  naturally 
would  have  turned  toward  Princeton  were  sending 
their  sons  elsewhere,  but  this  loss  was  more  than  com- 
pensated by  the  number  from  patriot  families  in  dis- 
tant parts  of  the  country.  Thus  Witherspoon  greatly 
augmented  Princeton's  position  as  a  national  institu- 
tion, and  his  political  leadership  and  teaching  made 
it  the  leading  school  of  statesmanship  of  the  time. 

Witherspoon  at  first  directed  his  attention  to 
the  building  up  of  the  college.  Its  financial  re- 

80 


The  University  Library 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN   MAKING   NATION 

sources  were  less  than  three  thousand  pounds.  He 
set  about  increasing  the  funds  and  the  student 
enrollment,  as  well  as  strengthening  the  faculty, 
improving  the  curriculum,  and  broadening  the  in- 
fluence of  the  college.  He  reorganized  the  grammar 
school,  he  inspired  public  confidence  by  writing  open 
letters  to  the  newspapers.  Former  presidents  had 
stayed  at  home,  devoting  their  energies  chiefly  to 
teaching  and  discipline.  Witherspoon  took  to  the 
road  to  fill  the  college  coffers  and  stimulate  attend- 
ance. To  strengthen  the  meager  equipment  in  the 
sciences,  the  new  president  obtained  from  David 
Rittenhouse  of  Philadelphia  his  celebrated  orrery, 
the  wonder  of  the  age.  This  contrivance  was  a  work- 
ing model  of  the  solar  system,  designed  to  show  the 
relative  distances  of  the  planets  from  the  sun  and 
from  each  other,  and  their  magnitude  and  motions. 
The  learned  Thomas  Jefferson  regarded  it  as  an 
"amazing  mechanical  representation  of  the  solar 
system." 

Witherspoon  personally  assumed  the  chair  of  di- 
vinity. He  established  the  chair  of  mathematics 
and  natural  philosophy  with  William  Churchill  Hous- 
ton, the  incumbent,  promoted  from  the  head  of  the 
grammar  school.  Looking  far  afield,  Witherspoon 
published  his  "Address  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Jamaica 
and  Other  West  India  Islands  ",  a  piece  of  propa- 
ganda in  the  interest  of  the  college  which  involved 
him  in  a  controversy  which  augmented  his  reputa- 

81 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

tion.  He  inspired  churches  to  collect  money  for 
the  college  and  send  their  boys  to  Princeton. 

All  these  plans  were  rudely  interrupted  by  the 
great  events  of  1776,  which,  while  bringing  to 
Princeton  still  greater  distinction,  eventuated  in 
the  scattering  of  her  equipment,  the  wiping  out  of 
her  resources,  the  dispersion  of  her  students,  and  all 
but  the  crushing  of  her  life. 

Meantime  the  trend  of  the  times  had  been  having 
its  influence  on  the  college  president  who  had  led 
a  fight  for  popular  rights  in  the  Scottish  church. 
The  patriotic  sentiments  of  his  young  men  had  not 
incurred  his  official  displeasure.  Indeed,  he  was 
openly  charged  with  teaching  them  disloyalty.  We 
may  be  sure  that  Witherspoon  was  an  unobjecting 
witness  of  those  treasonable  bonfires  on  the  campus, 
and  when,  at  the  Commencement  of  1770,  the 
graduating  class  again  appeared  in  American  fabric, 
and  manifested,  as  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  recorded, 
"that  truly  noble  and  patriotic  Spirit  which  inflames 
the  Breasts  of  those  who  are  the  real  Lovers  of  their 
Country",  it  is  not  on  record  that  the  president  of 
the  college  called  in  the  royal  troops  or  even  so  much 
as  vouchsafed  a  formal  rebuke.  On  the  contrary 
we  find  him  preaching  a  patriotic  sermon  which  was 
published  and  dedicated  to  John  Hancock,  and  which 
focused  public  attention  on  its  author  as  an  able  and 
fearless  leader  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  We  also  find 
him  elected  a  delegate  to  the  New  Jersey  Provincial 

82 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN   MAKING  NATION 

Congress,  where  he  assisted  in  framing  the  republi- 
can Constitution.  Governor  Franklin,  who  re- 
mained loyal  to  the  Crown,  was  arrested  and  brought 
before  this  Provincial  Congress,  which  he  denounced 
as  "lawless,  ignorant  and  vulgar"  and  as  "subject 
to  the  charge  and  punishment  of  rebellion."  Doctor 
Ashbel  Green  records  that  when  the  royal  Governor 
"finished  his  tirade  of  abuse,  Doctor  Witherspoon 
rose  and  let  loose  upon  him  a  copious  stream  of 
irony  and  sarcasm,  reflecting  on  the  Governor's 
want  of  proper  early  training  in  liberal  knowledge, 
and  alluding  to  an  infirmity  in  his  pedigree." 

In  the  Provincial  Congress,  Witherspoon  revealed 
such  progressive  Americanism  and  such  qualities  of 
leadership  that  after  only  eleven  days'  service  he 
was  sent  with  Richard  Stockton  as  a  delegate  to 
the  Continental  Congress  in  Philadelphia.  These 
events  marked  the  beginning  of  six  busy  and  active 
years  of  service  in  the  making  of  the  nation. 

Doctor  Witherspoon  was  the  only  clergyman  in 
the  Continental  Congress.  Both  he  and  Stockton 
urged  immediate  separation  from  Great  Britain. 
When  a  delegate  asked  the  clerical  member  whether 
he  considered  the  colonies  ripe  for  independence, 
Witherspoon  bluntly  rejoined,  "In  my  judgment, 
Sir,  we  are  not  only  ripe  but  rotting."  During  the 
debate,  when  timid  members  hesitated  and  the  fate 
of  the  Declaration  hung  in  the  balance,  it  was  the 
unwavering  resolution  of  such  staunch  patriots  as 

83 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Doctor  Witherspoon  that  carried  the  day.  His 
speech  on  that  memorable  occasion  has  often  been 
quoted.  Doctor  John  M.  Krebs,  a  witness  of  the 
scene,  gives  the  following  account  of  it : 

Every  eye  went  to  him  with  the  quickness  of  thought, 
and  remained  with  the  fixedness  of  the  polar  star.  He 
cast  on  the  assembly  a  look  of  inexpressible  interest  and 
unconquerable  determination,  while  on  his  visage  the  hue 
of  age  was  lost  in  the  flush  of  burning  patriotism  that 
fired  his  cheek. 

"There  is,"  he  said,  "a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men,  a 
nick  of  time.  We  perceive  it  now  before  us.  To  hesitate 
is  to  consent  to  our  own  slavery.  That  noble  instrument 
upon  your  table,  which  ensures  immortality  to  its  author, 
should  be  subscribed  this  very  morning  by  every  pen  in 
this  house.  He  that  will  not  respond  to  its  accents  and 
strain  every  nerve  to  carry  into  effect  its  provisions,  is 
unworthy  the  name  of  freeman. 

"For  my  own  part,  of  property  I  have  some,  of  reputa- 
tion more.  That  reputation  is  staked,  that  property  is 
pledged  on  the  issue  of  this  contest;  and  although  these 
grey  hairs  must  soon  descend  into  the  sepulchre,  I  would 
infinitely  rather  that  they  descend  thither  by  the  hand  of 
the  executioner,  than  desert  at  this  crisis  the  sacred  cause 
of  my  country." 

Doctor  Witherspoon,  Richard  Stockton  and  the 
latter's  son-in-law,  Doctor  Benjamin  Rush  of  the 
class  of  1760,  signed  the  engrossed  copy  of  the  Dec- 
laration, thereby  placing  themselves  in  open  re- 
bellion against  the  Crown.  Their  prominence  in  the 
cause  of  independence  soon  brought  upon  them  the 

84 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING   NATION 

wrath  of  the  enemy.  When  the  British  invaded 
New  Jersey  in  the  winter  of  1776-1777,  "Tuscu- 
lum",  Doctor  Witherspoon's  country  home,  a  mile 
north  of  Princeton,  one  of  the  old  colonial  land- 
marks still  preserved,  was  pillaged  by  the  Hessians, 
as  was  also  "Morven",  the  Stockton  homestead. 
Mr.  Stockton  had  only  time  to  escape  with  his 
family  to  a  place  of  safety.  The  house  was  plun- 
dered, his  horses  and  stock  were  driven  away,  and 
the  whole  estate  was  laid  waste.  The  furniture 
was  burned  for  firewood,  the  invading  Hessians 
drank  up  the  contents  of  the  wine  cellar,  and  burned 
Mr.  Stockton's  library  and  papers.  For  a  time  the 
residence  was  the  headquarters  of  the  British  gen- 
eral. The  family  silver  and  other  valuables  had 
been  buried  in  three  boxes  in  the  woods  near  by. 
Two  of  the  boxes  were  discovered  through  treachery 
and  their  contents  carried  away,  but  the  remaining 
box  escaped  the  search  of  the  invaders  and  was 
afterward  restored  to  the  family.  How  Judge 
Stockton  was  captured  and  taken  to  New  York, 
where  he  was  turned  over  to  the  British,  has  been 
told  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  British  also  paid  their  personal  compliments 
to  Doctor  Witherspoon,  whom  they  soon  singled 
out  as  an  uncommonly  influential  leader  in  the 
movement  under  which  they  were  soon  to  lose  their 
American  colonies.  An  incident  which  took  place 
shortly  after  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  of 

85 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Independence  illustrates  to  what  a  degree  the 
British  held  Doctor  Witherspoon  responsible  for  the 
acts  of  rebellion  which  were  going  forward.  The 
British  troops  stationed  on  Staten  Island  expressed 
their  sentiments  by  hanging  four  of  the  American 
leaders  in  effigy.  Generals  Washington,  Lee,  and 
Putnam  were  placed  in  a  row  with  the  clerical  figure 
of  the  Princeton  president  before  them,  reading  an 
address  to  the  generals.  This  little  tableau  fur- 
nished great  amusement  for  the  soldiers,  who 
gathered  around  the  group  of  rebels  and  celebrated 
their  demise. 

While  the  patriots  at  Philadelphia  were  formally 
severing  the  ties  which  had  bound  the  colonies  to  the 
mother  country,  at  Princeton  fifty  miles  away  the 
citizens  and  students  were  following  the  swiftly 
moving  course  of  affairs  with  intense  interest,  and 
when  the  news  of  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  reached  the  little  village  on  the  King's 
Highway,  a  celebration  of  the  great  event  was  im- 
mediately arranged.  On  the  evening  of  July  9, 
Nassau  Hall  was  brilliantly  illuminated,  and  inde- 
pendence was  proclaimed  "under  a  triple  volley  of 
musketry,  and  universal  acclamation  for  the  pros- 
perity of  the  United  States,  with  the  greatest  de- 
corum." It  is  an  interesting  coincidence  that  at 
the  very  time  that  this  celebration  was  in  full  sway, 
General  Washington  was  reading  the  Declaration  to 
the  American  troops  in  New  York. 

86 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING   NATION 

In  such  stirring  times  there  was  little  inclination 
for  study.  The  college  town  was  in  a  ferment  of 
patriotic  excitement.  With  their  president  at  Phila- 
delphia a  leader  in  the  formal  and  overt  acts  of 
revolution,  the  students  were  tugging  at  the  leash. 
They  wanted  action.  They  organized  a  company 
of  volunteers  and  marched  away  to  join  the  army. 
Patriot  troops  were  quartered  in  Nassau  Hall.  Pro- 
fessor Houston,  left  at  home  by  Witherspoon  to  run 
the  college,  became  a  captain  in  the  local  militia. 

Passing  through  Princeton  in  November  on  an 
official  mission  to  Washington's  camp,  Doctor 
Witherspoon  at  once  realized  the  futility  of  attempt- 
ing to  continue  the  business  of  education.  Calling 
the  students  together  in  the  prayer  hall,  he  ad- 
dressed them  briefly  on  the  gravity  of  the  situation 
and  formally  disbanded  college. 

It  was  a  wise  decision,  for  a  month  later  the 
British  troops  were  overrunning  New  Jersey.  The 
students  hastily  dispersed  to  their  homes,  or  to  such 
places  of  safety  as  they  could  find.  One  senior, 
James  Ashton  Bayard,  while  returning  to  his  home 
in  Philadelphia,  was  captured  by  British  troops  and 
denounced  as  a  rebel  and  the  son  of  a  rebel.  He  was 
imprisoned  in  Philadelphia  and  condemned  to  be 
hanged  as  a  spy.  With  the  halter  around  his  neck 
his  life  was  saved  at  the  last  moment  by  the  arrival 
of  an  order  for  his  release,  which  had  been  secured 
through  the  intervention  of  Washington. 

87 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

In  December,  the  British  marched  into  Princeton 
and  occupied  Nassau  Hall  as  a  barracks.  The 
stately  building  was  subjected  to  rough  treatment 
by  the  invaders,  keen  for  revenge  in  this  hotbed 
of  rebellion.  Five  years  elapsed  before  the  college 
could  again  call  Nassau  Hall  its  own.  It  was  oc- 
cupied in  turn  by  British  and  Hessian  and  American 
troops.  Three  times  it  changed  hands  on  the  day 
of  the  Battle  of  Princeton.  In  the  early  morning  it 
was  held  by  the  British.  Before  noon  it  had  been 
captured  by  Washington's  victorious  troops,  and 
when  the  American  general  pressed  on  almost  im- 
mediately along  the  King's  Highway  to  establish 
his  impregnable  position  in  the  hills  of  northern 
Jersey,  the  building  was  left  to  become  a  British 
headquarters  again,  for  the  belated  troops  hasten- 
ing back  from  Trenton  in  pursuit  of  Washington.  It 
was  during  the  last  engagement  of  the  battle,  when 
some  of  the  British  had  taken  refuge  in  Nassau 
Hall,  that  a  battery  commanded  by  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton directed  its  fire  against  the  building,  and  the 
first  ball  of  the  bombardment  is  said  to  have  been 
the  shot  that  took  off  the  head  of  the  portrait  of 
George  II,  hanging  in  the  prayer  hall.  Another 
shot  ripped  a  hole  in  the  ceiling. 

When  the  British,  hastening  on  to  their  base  of 
supplies  in  New  Brunswick,  abandoned  Nassau  Hall, 
it  was  occupied  by  General  Putnam  and  his  command 
as  a  barracks,  hospital,  and  military  prison. 

88 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN   MAKING   NATION 

The  scene  of  military  operations  having  shifted, 
six  months  after  the  Battle  of  Princeton  college  was 
again  opened,  with  a  meager  enrollment.  The  for- 
tunes of  war  had  so  wrecked  Nassau  Hall  that  it  was 
necessary  to  hold  the  college  exercises  in  the  presi- 
dent's house. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  students  were 
scattered,  and  that  Princeton  had  been  such  a  storm 
center  of  the  Revolution,  the  usual  Commencement 
was  held  in  the  autumn,  though  no  degrees  were 
conferred.  The  few  members  of  the  graduating  class 
received  their  diplomas  several  months  later.  The 
observance  of  Commencement  in  1777,  the  year 
Princeton  suffered  most  from  the  ravages  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  prevented  a  break  in  the  annual 
exercises  incident  to  the  close  of  the  college  year, 
which  have  been  held  uninterruptedly  since  the  first 
class  was  graduated  in  1748. 

This  autumn  of  1777  brought  home  very  intimately 
to  Doctor  Witherspoon  the  sacrifices  of  war.  To  the 
combined  burdens  of  his  public  service  and  college 
presidency  were  added  the  poignant  sorrows  of  per- 
sonal bereavement.  His  oldest  son,  James  Wither- 
spoon, had  been  graduated  in  1770  and  had  volun- 
teered for  the  patriot  army.  Appointed  an  aide  to 
General  Nash,  he  lost  his  life  fighting  for  his  country 
at  the  Battle  of  Germantown. 

During  the  following  winter,  Nassau  Hall  was  re- 
occupied  by  the  college,  but  the  enrollment  was  so 

89 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

small  that  for  five  years  afterward  the  graduating 
class  averaged  only  half  a  dozen.  The  building  was 
still  in  ruins  and  in  fact  was  not  entirely  restored  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
library  was  scattered,  the  scientific  apparatus  ruined, 
and  the  funds  depleted.  The  losses  caused  by  the 
Revolution  amounted  to  at  least  ten  thousand 
pounds.  The  campus  had  grown  up  in  weeds  and 
was  strewn  with  rubbish,  and  the  whole  college  pre- 
sented a  dilapidated  and  poverty-stricken  appear- 
ance, in  striking  contrast  with  the  description  by  John 
Adams  when  he  visited  Princeton  before  the  war. 

With  the  war  over  and  independence  won,  Doctor 
Witherspoon  retired  from  Congress  to  devote  his 
remaining  years  to  the  rehabilitation  of  the  college. 
It  was  a  discouraging  task.  Witherspoon  was  now 
over  sixty,  a  time  of  life  when  even  the  most  coura- 
geous seldom  enter  upon  new  enterprises  ;  but  with 
unflinching  courage,  supreme  faith,  and  energy  un- 
abated, he  was  soon  busily  engaged  in  building  up 
where  wanton  warfare  had  torn  down. 

The  college  was  desperately  poor.  First  of  all, 
money  was  needed.  In  the  winter  of  1783-1784  the 
trustees  accordingly  resolved  upon  the  experiment  of 
sending  the  president  to  England  to  collect  funds. 
It  was  a  fatuous  resolve.  It  could  not  have  been 
expected  to  succeed.  For  the  Princeton  president's 
name  had  been  heralded  throughout  the  British  Isles 
as  that  of  a  rebel  and  a  traitor,  and  though  such 

90 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING  NATION 

eminent  statesmen  as  Pitt  and  Burke  had  opposed 
the  making  of  war  on  the  British  colonies  across  seas, 
with  the  people  as  a  whole  it  cannot  be  said  that  the 
war  was  unpopular,  and  the  loss  of  the  American 
colonies  was  bitterly  deplored.  The  feeling  in  Brit- 
ain toward  a  former  fellow  countryman  who  had 
been  so  prominent  in  the  events  which  had  brought 
about  the  humiliation  of  British  arms  can  be  readily 
imagined.  At  that  time  Doctor  Witherspoon  was 
about  as  popular  in  England  as  a  Hessian  soldier 
would  have  been  at  an  American  Fourth  of  July  cele- 
bration. His  mission  was  of  course  a  failure.  It 
barely  paid  expenses. 

The  next  effort  to  recoup  the  finances  was  a  peti- 
tion to  Congress  for  a  grant  of  western  land.  Prince- 
ton's contribution  to  independence  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  her  property  by  the  contending  armies  had 
earned  the  gratitude  of  the  country ;  but  Congress 
ignored  the  obligation. 

The  last  dozen  years  of  Witherspoon's  administra- 
tion was  a  period  of  continual  struggle  against  almost 
insuperable  odds.  With  his  mission  to  England  a 
failure  and  with  the  refusal  of  Congress  to  recognize 
the  college's  claim  to  financial  assistance,  the  last 
resource  remained  in  appeals  to  the  public,  which 
also  had  been  hit  hard  by  the  war.  Student  room- 
rent  was  raised,  and  money  was  collected  in  driblets 
from  outside  sources,  but  it  was  many  years  before  the 
college  began  to  recover  from  its  Revolutionary  losses. 

91 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Nevertheless,  with  superb  courage,  Witherspoon 
began  putting  into  effect  his  plans  for  strengthening 
the  faculty.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith  had  in  1779 
been  appointed  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy,  and 
Witherspoon  gave  half  his  salary  to  support  the 
chair.  This  was  but  one  instance  of  his  personal 
generosity  on  behalf  of  the  college ;  from  his  private 
funds  he  was  constantly  helping  poor  students.  In 
1785  Ashbel  Green,  the  valedictorian  at  the  Com- 
mencement attended  by  Congress,  was  advanced 
from  a  tutorship  to  a  professorship  of  mathematics 
and  natural  philosophy,  succeeding  Professor  Hous- 
ton, who  had  resigned.  Two  years  later,  Mr. 
Green  having  relinquished  his  chair,  Professor  Walter 
Minto,  who  had  come  to  America  with  an  estab- 
lished reputation  in  astronomy  and  mathematics, 
was  appointed  in  his  stead.  These  constructive 
measures,  together  with  Witherspoon's  unabated 
activity  and  his  prominence  before  the  country,  at- 
tracted new  students  from  all  quarters,  and  whereas 
in  1780  there  were  less  than  a  score  of  undergradu- 
ates, six  years  later  the  number  had  reached  almost 
a  hundred,  and  in  1792  the  largest  class  up  to  that 
time  was  graduated,  numbering  thirty-seven  mem- 
bers. 

And  so  to  the  very  last  Witherspoon  fought  the 
uphill  fight.  Stricken  with  blindness  and  afflicted 
with  private  bereavement  and  financial  difficulties, 
he  still  struggled  on  to  regain  the  lost  ground.  And 

92 


PRINCETON'S   PART  IN  MAKING   NATION 

like  the  good  soldier  he  was,  he  died  with  his  boots  on. 
An  old  letter  from  one  of  his  students  tells  how  Doctor 
Witherspoon  was  found  dead  in  his  chair:  "He 
was  very  desirous  to  hear  the  last  news  read.  They 
had  sent  for  Doctor  Smith  that  Night  and  when 
he  came  there  they  read  the  news,  of  the  last  paper 
they  had,  but  Doctr.  Witherspoon  was  still  desirous 
to  send  for  the  last  paper ;  they  sent  for  it  but  before 
the  boy  had  arrived  with  the  paper,  they  found  him 
dead  sitting  on  his  chair  and  but  a  little  before  his 
wife  was  with  him  in  the  room,  but  going  out  into 
another  room  upon  some  business  and  when  she  re- 
turned he  was  dead." 

He  died  November  15,  1794,  at  "Tusculum",  his 
country  place  near  Princeton,  where  his  devoted 
students  had  assisted  him  in  his  harvest  fields. 

Witherspoon  was  one  of  America's  greatest  col- 
lege presidents.  A  born  leader,  he  also  was  a  great 
organizer  and  a  great  teacher.  In  general  his  con- 
tribution was  to  broaden  the  curriculum  in  historical, 
literary,  and  philosophical  lines.  His  leadership  in 
the  "philosophy  of  common  sense"  made  Princeton 
the  center  of  a  movement  whose  tributaries  extended 
to  the  rapidly  growing  South  and  West. 

Particularly  potent  was  Princeton  influence  in  the 
South,  where  her  graduates  became  pioneer  leaders. 
These  early  graduates  made  the  southern  States  a 
Princeton  stronghold  even  up  to  the  time  of  the 
Civil  War;  and  notwithstanding  the  establishment 

93 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

of  many  educational  institutions  in  the  South,  that 
early  influence  is  manifested  in  an  allegiance  to 
Princeton  which  continues  strong  to  the  present  day. 

Witherspoon's  educational  methods  also  had  a 
marked  effect.  Thirteen  of  his  graduates  became 
college  presidents,  not  to  mention  the  great  num- 
ber of  teachers  whom  he  graduated  and  who  achieved 
various  grades  of  distinction.  Through  his  gradu- 
ates, Princeton  became  the  mother  of  no  less 
than  thirteen  colleges,  including  Hampton-Sidney 
and  Washington  in  Virginia ;  Washington  and 
Jefferson  in  Pennsylvania ;  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  and  Queen's  College  in  that  state ;  Mount 
Zion  in  South  Carolina ;  Washington,  Tusculum, 
Greenville,  and  the  University  of  Nashville  in  Ten- 
nessee ;  Transylvania  in  Kentucky ;  Ohio  Uni- 
versity; and  Union  College  in  New  York. 

The  preponderance  of  Princeton  eighteenth  cen- 
tury graduates  in  the  Revolution  and  the  making  of 
the  nation  has  already  been  mentioned ;  the  large 
proportion  of  these  graduates  received  their  training 
under  Witherspoon,  including  a  president  and  a 
vice-president  of  the  United  States,  twenty-one 
United  States  senators,  thirty-nine  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  three  Supreme  Court 
justices,  nine  cabinet  officers,  six  members  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  twelve  governors,  thirty-three 
judges,  and  at  least  twenty  officers  in  the  War  of  the 
Revolution.  Whether  in  the  ministry,  in  education, 

94 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING  NATION 

in  public  affairs,  or  in  other  fields,  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  it  was  chiefly  the  great  qualities  of  leader- 
ship, the  outstanding  personality,  the  inspiring  teach- 
ing, and  above  all  the  innate  strength  of  character 
of  John  Witherspoon  that  lifted  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  his  469  graduates  to  careers  of  distinguished 
service  in  the  early  history  of  the  country,  and  which 
gave  the  college  he  ruled  a  prestige  unique  among 
educational  institutions  of  his  time. 

It  was  a  fitting  climax  to  Princeton's  part  in  the 
Revolution  that  Nassau  Hall  should  have  become  for 
a  time  the  Capitol  of  the  young  republic.  Driven 
from  Philadelphia  by  a  mutiny  of  soldiers,  in  the 
summer  of  1783  the  Continental  Congress  took  hasty 
refuge  at  Princeton,  and  for  four  months  the  village 
assumed  the  distinction  of  the  nation's  official  head- 
quarters. Here  the  men  who  had  emerged  as  leaders 
in  the  late  crisis,  —  George  Washington  and  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  and  James  Madison  and  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Elias  Boudinot,  the  President  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  and  trustee  of  the  college ;  Oliver 
Ellsworth,  the  Princeton  graduate  who  was  to  be- 
come Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States ;  Robert 
Morris,  John  Paul  Jones,  Baron  Steuben,  Thomas 
Paine  and  the  other  notable  figures  of  the  Revolution- 
ary period,  —  foregathered  to  transact  public  busi- 
ness and  to  shed  their  luster  in  the  academic  shades. 
For  a  brief  period  the  quiet  simplicity  of  the  village 
was  enlivened  not  only  by  the  consideration  of 

95 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

matters  of  state  within  its  borders  but  also  by  the 
gaiety  of  the  social  life  that  followed  in  the  train  of 
officialdom.  It  was  a  summer  of  unprecedented 
prosperity  for  the  taverns  and  trades-people,  and 
unaccustomed  distraction  for  the  college  community. 
For  a  few  days  after  its  arrival,  Congress  met  at 
"Prospect",  the  estate  of  Colonel  George  Morgan  — 
now  the  residence  of  the  president  of  the  university 
-  and  then  on  the  invitation  of  the  college  trans- 
ferred its  sessions  to  Nassau  Hall,  in  the  library  and 
prayer  hall  of  which  the  daily  meetings  were  held 
throughout  the  summer  and  autumn.  During  the 
stay  of  Congress,  all  the  public  functions  of  the 
college  were  distinguished  by  the  attendance  of  the 
members  in  a  body.  No  sooner  had  the  officials 
arrived  than  they  were  invited  to  the  Fourth  of  July 
celebration,  and  in  September  they  were  again  the 
guests  at  the  annual  Commencement.  In  August, 
General  Washington  with  his  escort  and  his  house- 
hold arrived  at  Rocky  Hill  in  order  to  be  near  Con- 
gress to  lend  his  advice,  and  thus  to  the  distinction 
of  the  visit  of  the  Federal  Government  was  added  the 
final  touch  of  the  presence  of  the  greatest  American 
of  his  time,  in  whose  modest  ears  were  ringing  the 
plaudits  of  a  grateful  people. 

The  coming  of  Congress  and  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  attracted  to  the  village  not  only  a  train  of 
public  figures,  but  also  those  of  lesser  distinction, 
drawn  by  curiosity  or  bent  on  private  advantage* 

96 


- 


Blair  II al 


PRIXCETOX'S   PART  IN  MAKING  XATION 

The  little  village,  suddenly  elevated  to  national 
prominence,  was  invested  with  an  unwonted  cos- 
mopolitan atmosphere.  As  Washington  informed 
Rochambeau,  the  place  was  full  of  strangers  "  from 
different  parts  of  the  Globe,  some  to  trade,  some  for 
amusement,  and  some,  I  presume,  to  spy  the  land." 
There  were  government  officials  and  clerks,  foreign 
noblemen,  English  promoters,  Revolutionary  officers, 
and  soldiers  urging  their  claims  upon  Congress ; 
artists  and  inventors,  and  the  motley  throng  of  those 
not  only  willing  but  eager  to  come  to  the  assistance 
of  the  struggling  young  republic  for  a  consideration 
more  or  less  tangible. 

And  there  were  those  who  richly  deserved  the  con- 
sideration of  Congress.  Captain  John  Paul  Jones 
of  Bonhomme  Richard  fame  arrived  to  wait  on  Con- 
gress on  behalf  of  the  claims  of  his  men  who  had  first 
vindicated  the  valor  of  American  seamen,  while 
Thomas  Paine  was  another  notable  figure  whose 
presence  recalled  the  republic's  debt  to  a  pioneer 
patriot  whose  "Common  Sense"  had  put  heart  into 
the  cause  of  independence.  Then  there  was  Baron 
Steuben  with  a  letter  from  Washington  recommend- 
ing his  appointment  to  take  possession  of  the  western 
posts,  and  Robert  Morris,  the  financier  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, who  came  on  from  Philadelphia  to  be  Wash- 
ington's guest  at  "Rockingham"  and  transact  busi- 
ness with  Congress.  Hamilton  and  Madison  were 
prominent  figures  in  the  summer's  debates  and 

97 


THE   STORY  OF  PRIXCETOX 

Jefferson  arrived  from  Virginia  late  in  the  session  to 
take  his  seat. 

Some  of  the  Congressmen  were  evidently  delighted 
with  their  removal  from  the  heat  and  metropolitan 
atmosphere  of  Philadelphia  to  the  cooler  tempera- 
ture and  rural  surroundings  of  Princeton.  It  is  on 
record  that  several  southern  members  were  so  capti- 
vated by  the  college  town  that  they  were  considering 
buying  property.  Judge  Howell  of  Rhode  Island 
wrote  of  his  pleasure  at  getting  away  from  the  fright- 
ful heat  of  Philadelphia  to  Princeton's  "salutary 
free  air  and  general  healthfulness."  Other  members, 
however,  complained  of  the  discomforts  of  rural  life. 
Judge  Huntington,  a  member  with  a  sense  of  humor, 
evidently  took  keen  delight  in  satirizing  the  fastidious 
tastes  of  some  of  his  colleagues.  Writing  to  his  wife 
in  September,  he  said  : 

Some  are  under  the  Necessity  to  Go  to  Philadelphia 
once  or  Twice  a  fortnight  to  Breath  in  Polite  Air.  The 
Country  so  badly  agrees  with  those  Sublime  &  Delicate 
Constitutions  that  it  is  to  be  feared  that  many  of  them 
will  Contract  a  Rusticity  that  Can  never  be  wholly  Purged 
off.  We  have  nothing  here  but  the  Necessaries  and  Com- 
forts of  Life  and  who  can  live  so  ?  The  Agreeables  of 
the  City  cannot  be  had  in  the  Country.  I  expect  no 
Business  of  Importance  will  be  Done  until  Congress  Re- 
turns to  that  Sweet  Paridice  from  which  they  hastily 
took  Flight  in  June  last.  Since  which  Time  an  Awkward 
Rustication  has  been  their  Painful  Situation  on  an  Emi- 
nence in  the  Country  where  they  have  no  Mosquitoes  to 

98 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING   NATION 

Serenade  them  in  bed  and  in  the  Day  they  have  a  Pros- 
pect of  no  more  than  30  or  40  Miles  to  the  High  Lands 
on  the  Sea  Coast  nor  can  they  hear  the  musick  of  Carts 
and  Waggons  on  the  Pavements  in  the  City  nor  See  the 
motly  Crowd  of  Beings  in  those  Streets.  This  must  be 
Truely  Distressing  to  Gentlemen  of  Taste. 

The  transient  life  of  that  memorable  summer  cen- 
tered around  the  old  taverns  of  Princeton,  many 
traditions  of  which  are  still  preserved.  The  eager 
students  daily  ogled  the  stagecoaches  from  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  which  drew  up  at  the  "Hudibras 
Inn",  "The  Sign  of  the  College",  and  the  "General 
Washington",  in  the  hope,  seldom  disappointed,  that 
some  notable  personage  would  arrive  from  his  dusty 
travels  to  receive  the  cheery  greeting  of  Colonel 
Jacob  Hyer,  Christopher  Beekman,  or  Jacob  Ber- 
gen, who  enjoyed  more  than  a  local  reputation  as 
hospitable  hosts.  As  early  as  1750  one  of  these  tav- 
erns had  been  doing  business.  It  was  probably  es- 
tablished in  the  old  brick  building  covered  with 
stucco  on  the  north  side  of  Nassau  Street,  opposite  the 
president's  house  and  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
which  for  several  years  has  been  occupied  as  a 
tobacco  store  and  dry-goods  establishment,  but  has 
recently  been  purchased  by  the  university  store. 
In  the  course  of  time  what  is  probably  the  oldest 
tavern  building  in  Princeton  will  therefore  become 
the  habitation  of  the  college  cooperative  store. 

The  oldest  tavern  in  Princeton  with  a  continuous 

99 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

history  as  a  place  of  public  entertainment  is  the  origi- 
nal building  of  the  Nassau  Inn,  in  which  the  office 
is  now  located,  and  under  which  the  modern  under- 
graduate finds  refreshment  in  "The  Nass."  Origi- 
nally the  residence  of  Judge  Thomas  Leonard,  this 
building  was  constructed  in  1757  from  brick  imported 
from  Holland.  Not  more  than  ten  years  later  it 
became  a  public  tavern,  in  front  of  which  during  the 
Revolution  swung  "The  Sign  of  the  College",  under 
the  hospitable  management  of  Christopher  Beekman. 
It  was  known  far  and 'wide  as  one  of  the  most  popular 
resorts  along  the  King's  Highway.  It  was  at  "The 
Sign  of  the  College"  that  Independence  Day  was  for 
many  years  celebrated  with  toasts  and  refreshments, 
solid  and  liquid.  Here  in  1781  the  surrender  of 
Cornwallis  was  observed  by  an  all-day  celebration, 
and  within  the  old  Holland  brick  walls  many  Revo- 
lutionary committees  held  their  meetings. 

Not  less  famous  was  the  "Hudibras  Inn",  which  is 
known  to  have  existed  as  early  as  1765.  It  was  here 
that  John  Adams  put  up  in  1774,  on  his  way  to  at- 
tend the  Continental  Congress  in  Philadelphia. 
Here  the  court-martial  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Fisher 
was  held,  and  here,  as  well  as  at  "The  Sign  of  the 
College",  the  preliminaries  of  peace  were  celebrated 
in  1783.  Its  proprietor,  Colonel  Jacob  Hyer,  was 
not  only  successful  in  catering  to  the  hungry  and 
thirsty,  but  he  was  also  a  substantial  and  highly  re- 
spected citizen,  a  contributor  to  the  church,  and  a 

100 


PRINCETON'S   PART  IN   MAKING   NATION 

patriot  who  was  ever  ready  to  help  in  the  cause  of 
independence.  During  the  war  he  served  as  quarter- 
master at  Princeton  and  as  colonel  of  the  Third  Mid- 
dlesex Militia.  His  famous  tavern  was  known  in 
turn  as  the  "Hudibras"  and  the  "Red  Lion",  and  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  town  began  to  put 
on  airs,  it  assumed  the  title  of  the  "City  Hotel", 
by  which  it  was  known  until  it  was  torn  down  within 
the  memory  of  graduates  still  living.  It  stood  at 
the  eastern  corner  of  Nassau  Street  and  College 
Place,  the  latter  scarcely  known  to  modern  Prince- 
tonians,  but  which  may  be  identified  as  the  road 
leading  up  from  Nassau  Street  to  "Prospect",  be- 
tween Dickinson  Hall  and  the  University  Library. 
Directly  across  the  way  from  the  site  of  the  old 
"Hudibras  Inn",  at  the  western  corner  of  Nassau 
Street  and  College  Place,  was  the  residence  of  Profes- 
sor Atwater,  and  the  south  side  of  Nassau  Street 
eastward  to  Washington  Road,  now  all  incorporated 
in  the  campus,  was  lined  with  private  residences. 

With  no  less  than  fifteen  stagecoach  lines  plying 
between  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  with  a 
hundred  fresh  horses  waiting  at  the  Princeton  tav- 
erns to  take  the  travelers  on  their  journeys,  Nassau 
Street  presented  busy  and  picturesque  scenes,  which 
must  have  been  a  sore  trial  for  tutors  bent  on  laying 
the  foundation  of  knowledge  and  keeping  their 
charges  within  the  bounds  of  decorum. 

Things  were  stirring  at  the  taverns  at  the  first 

101 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

appearance  of  the  morning  light,  and  by  the  time 
the  sun  was  up,  the  coaches  for  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia had  set  off.  And  when  the  little  flock  of 
students  had  been  to  morning  prayers  and  were 
at  breakfast,  other  coaches  would  come  rumbling 
down  the  highway,  loaded  with  dusty  and  hungry 
travelers.  At  noon  still  another  conveyance  arrived 
from  each  direction,  one  of  the  midday  vehicles  being 
known  as  the  "New  York  Flying  Machine",  famed 
for  making  the  trip  from  Elizabeth  to  Philadelphia 
in  one  day.  Again  at  sundown  coaches  arrived  from 
east  and  west  with  passengers  to  spend  the  night  at 
Princeton  and  to  add  their  gossip  of  the  doings  in 
the  metropolitan  centers  to  the  stock  of  current 
news. 

In  one  of  the  taverns  a  French  dancing  master  from 
Philadelphia  held  classes  once  a  week,  instructing  the 
boys  of  Nassau  Hall  and  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
local  families  in  the  dances  then  in  fashion  and  in 
"the  graces  and  manners."  This  weekly  diversion 
was  evidently  very  popular  with  the  undergraduates 
-  so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  the  trustees  felt  impelled 
to  take  measures  in  the  interest  of  college  discipline. 
The  Frenchman's  inculcation  of  "graces  and  man- 
ners" was  evidently  not  to  their  liking,  the  holding 
of  the  dancing  school  in  a  tavern  did  not  accord  with 
their  sense  of  responsibility  toward  their  tender 
charges,  and  the  trustees  therefore  solemnly  promul- 
gated this  summary  edict : 

102 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING  NATION 

It  being  represented,  that  permitting  the  students  to 
attend  a  dancing  school  in  the  town  is  useless  to  them  in 
point  of  manners,  they  being  generally  past  that  period 
of  youth  in  which  the  manners  are  formed,  &  it  being 
represented  that  their  attendance  in  such  school  involves 
them  immediately,  or  by  consequence  in  considerable 
expences,  to  the  injury  &  ill  report  of  the  college,  &  it 
being  held  in  a  tavern,  &  often  late  at  night,  circumstances 
unfriendly  to  the  order  of  good  government  of  the  insti- 
tution —  it  was  unanimously  resolved,  that  from  hence- 
forth the  students  shall  not  be  permitted  to  attend  a 
dancing  school,  during  the  sessions  of  the  college,  under 
any  pretense  whatever. 

General  Washington  having  arrived  at  Rocky 
Hill  on  a  Saturday  in  August,  under  the  energetic 
leadership  of  President  Witherspoon  town  and  gown 
lost  no  time  in  sending  him  an  address  of  welcome 
and  congratulation,  which  the  General  immedi- 
ately acknowledged  in  terms  not  less  ceremonious. 
It  gave  him  particular  satisfaction  to  revisit  upon  the 
return  of  peace  "the  Scene  of  our  important  Mili- 
tary transactions"  and  to  recollect  "the  period  when 
the  Tide  of  adversity  began  to  turn,  and  better 
fortune  to  smile  upon  us."  On  the  following  day 
Washington,  with  his  escort  of  troopers,  rode  into 
Princeton  to  receive  from  Congress  the  public  thanks 
of  the  country.  The  news  that  the  hero  of  the  Rev- 
olution had  arrived  at  Princeton  had  been  noised 
abroad,  and  the  stages  from  east  and  west  had  been 
crowded  with  distinguished  visitors.  The  taverns 

103 


were  packed  with  guests,  and  the  streets  were 
thronged  with  people  from  the  surrounding  country. 
"Mounted  on  his  favorite  roan  gelding,  with  the 
old  crooked  saddle  and  the  familiar  buff  and  blue 
saddlecloth  of  flowery  pattern,"  writes  Professor  Col- 
lins in  "The  Continental  Congress  at  Princeton ", 
General  Washington,  accompanied  by  his  escort, 
reached  Princeton  at  noon.  As  he  came  up  the 
street,  the  throngs  acclaimed  his  progress.  Students 
in  cap  and  gown  grouped  at  the  entrance  of  Nassau 
Hall  added  their  enthusiastic  welcome  as  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  was  escorted  by  a  committee  of 
Congress  into  the  battle-scarred  building  which  his 
troops  had  captured  on  that  memorable  winter  day 
six  years  before.  Inside  the  building  the  gallery  was 
packed  with  visitors,  while  the  floor  of  the  prayer  hall 
where  the  ceremony  was  held  was  occupied  by  the 
members  of  Congress.  Silence  fell  upon  the  as- 
sembly as  the  Commander-in-Chief  was  ushered  to  a 
seat  beside  the  presiding  officer.  President  Boudinot. 
When  the  General  had  taken  his  seat,  the  President  of 
Congress  read  the  formal  address  which  had  been 
prepared  by  a  committee  of  Congress,  expressing 
"the  grateful  acknowledgments  of  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent Nation"  for  Washington's  great  service  to 
the  country.  The  General  made  a  characteristically 
modest  reply,  and  the  simple  ceremony,  which 
marked  the  climax  of  Washington's  military  career, 
was  completed. 

104 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING   NATION 

On  September  24,  Congress  adjourned  to  attend  the 
annual  Commencement  of  the  college,  which  was  also 
distinguished  by  the  presence  of  Washington  and  that 
of  the  New  Jersey  Branch  of  the  Society  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati, which  was  holding  its  annual  meeting  in  the 
college  town.  The  exercises  were  held  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church.  That  Commencement  of  1783 
remains  to  this  day  unique  in  the  annals  of  American 
education.  Never  before  or  since  have  so  many  men 
of  national  distinction  attended  a  college  Commence- 
ment in  this  country.  On  the  platform  were  no  less 
than  seven  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence and  nine  signers  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  ; 
there  were  twelve  statesmen  who  later  were  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  Constitutional  Convention  and  eleven 
who  were  to  sign  their  names  to  the  Constitution. 
Two  of  the  Commencement  guests  were  to  become 
presidents  of  the  United  States  under  the  Constitu- 
tion —  Washington  and  Madison  ;  three  Princeton 
graduates  who  had  served  with  distinction  in  the 
Revolution  received  the  master's  degree  —  Jonathan 
Dayton,  Morgan  Lewis,  and  Aaron  Ogden.  The 
two  surviving  members  of  the  original  trustees  of 
the  college,  William  Peartree  Smith  and  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Timothy  Johnes,  sat  with  their  younger 
colleagues,  among  whom  were  the  Reverend  Doctor 
John  Rodgers,  the  Reverend  Doctor  Elihu  Spencer, 
the  Reverend  John  Woodhull,  the  Reverend  Doctor 
George  Duffield,  and  the  Reverend  Doctor  Alexander 

105 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Macwhorter,  all  of  whom  had  been  leaders  in  the 
Revolution ;  Colonel  John  Bayard,  who  had  fought 
at  Brandywine,  Germantown,  Trenton,  and  Prince- 
ton, and  Jonathan  Bayard  Smith,  the  pioneer  advo- 
cate of  independence  who  had  served  in  Congress. 
Even  two  of  the  members  of  the  graduating  class  had 
served  the  patriot  cause  - —  Ashbel  Green,  who  had 
joined  the  army  before  entering  college,  and  Captain 
Nathaniel  Lawrence,  who  had  left  college  to  join  a 
North  Carolina  regiment,  for  two  years  had  suffered 
the  hardships  of  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  had  now 
returned  to  receive  his  degree  with  the  class  of 
1783.  And  in  addition  to  Doctor  Witherspoon, 
there  were  two  others  who  were  to  become  presi- 
dents of  the  college,  Professor  Samuel  Stanhope 
Smith  and  Ashbel  Green.  The  distinguished  guests 
who,  in  the  words  of  the  valedictorian,  had  left  the 
"affairs  of  empires  and  the  fate  of  nations  to  attend 
the  essays  of  inexperienced  youth",  were  regaled  by 
a  programme  which  in  these  days  looks  formidable 
enough.  The  president's  prayer  was  followed  by 
the  Latin  salutatory  on  the  union  of  learning  and  re- 
ligion ;  then  came  an  English  oration  on  the  dangers 
and  advantages  of  popular  elections,  after  which  two 
of  the  youthful  pundits  engaged  in  a  disputation  on 
the  highly  entertaining  subject,  "Is  there  any  suffi- 
cient reason  in  the  state  of  society,  and  the  improve- 
ment of  the  human  mind,  why  a  more  cool  and  dis- 
passionate eloquence  should  be  cultivated  among  us 

106 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING  NATION 

than  was  among  the  ancients?"  One  of  the  young 
gentlemen  discoursed  on  "female  education  ",  which 
goes  to  show  that  the  feminist  movement  is  not  so 
entirely  modern  as  is  commonly  supposed.  Three 
of  Witherspoon's  boys  disputed  the  question  :  "  Was 
Brutus  justified  in  killing  Caesar?"  An  oration  on 
taste  prolonged  the  ceremonies,  and  the  agony  of 
that  September  day  was  rubbed  in  by  mixing  politics 
and  ethics,  the  question  reading  "Can  any  measure 
that  is  morally  evil  be  politically  good?"  After 
the  statesmen  had  been  further  entertained  by  an 
oration  on  "delicacy  of  sentiment",  the  president 
formally  conferred  the  degree  of  A.B.  on  the  fourteen 
members  of  the  graduating  class.  The  recipients  of 
honorary  degrees  included  a  Yale  and  a  Harvard 
graduate,  a  Lincoln's  Inn  man,  and  two  others  from 
Great  Britain.  One  of  the  latter  was  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Wren  of  Portsmouth,  England,  whom  Benja- 
min Franklin  had  suggested  for  the  honor,  and  who 
a  ifew  days  later  received  a  vote  of  thanks  from  Con- 
gress for  his  benevolent  attention  to  American  pris- 
oners during  the  war.  After  Doctor  Witherspoon 
had  given  the  class  some  sensible  advice,  the  climax 
was  reached  in  the  valedictory  oration  of  Ashbel 
Green.  He  concluded  his  farewells  by  turning  to 
the  most  distinguished  guest  of  the  occasion  and  pro- 
nouncing an  encomium  upon  the  "  illustrious  and  mag- 
nanimous chief",  to  the  great  embarrassment  of  the 
subject  of  his  panegyric.  President  Green  records  in 

107 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

iiis  autobiography  that  on  the  following  day  he  met 
Washington  in  Nassau  Hall,  and  the  General  stopped 
him  and  congratulated  him  upon  his  oration. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Washington  presented 
fifty  guineas  to  the  college,  with  which  the  trustees 
employed  Charles  Wilson  Peale  to  paint  the  General's 
portrait,  and  ordered  that  it  be  placed  "in  the  room 
of  the  picture  of  the  late  King  of  Great  Britain", 
where  to  this  day  it  hangs  upon  the  walls  of  Nassau 
Hall. 

General  Washington's  first  visit  to  Princeton  was 
in  1775,  when  he  passed  through  the  village  on  his 
journey  to  take  command  of  the  army.  He  was  in 
Princeton  twice  during  the  military  operations  of 
the  winter  of  1776-1777,  and  achieved  at  Princeton 
one  of  his  most  important  military  triumphs.  In 
1783  he  established  his  headquarters  near  the  col- 
lege town,  in  1789  he  spent  a  night  at  Princeton 
while  on  his  way  to  New  York  to  take  the  oath  as 
President,  and  later  in  the  same  year,  while  on  his 
way  to  Philadelphia,  he  again  stopped  to  renew  his 
Princeton  acquaintances. 

Having  no  son  of  his  own,  when  the  time  came  to 
select  a  college  for  his  adopted  son,  George  Washing- 
ton Parke  Custis,  he  sought  Doctor  Witherspoon's 
advice  upon  his  education,  and  later  sent  the  boy  to 
Princeton  to  study  under  President  Smith.  While 
Custis  was  at  Princeton  in  1799,  Washington  wrote 
to  him  "admonishing  him  against  being  influenced 

108 


PRINCETON'S  PART  IN  MAKING   NATION 

by  the  advice  of  a  tutor  ",  who  was  a  graduate  of 
another  college,  and  clinched  the  argument  by  say- 
ing "no  college  has  turned  out  better  scholars  or  more 
estimable  characters  than  Nassau."  Washington 
vitalized  this  faith  by  appointing  Oliver  Ellsworth  of 
the  class  of  1766  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States, 
William  Paterson  of  the  class  of  1763  an  Associate 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  William  Bradford, 
1774,  and  Charles  Lee,  1775,  as  his  first  two  Attorneys 
General.  It  was  therefore  singularly  fitting  that 
a  Princeton  graduate  should  have  been  chosen  to 
pay  the  last  tribute  of  the  people's  representatives 
to  the  "Father  of  his  Country."  It  was  Senator 
Henry  Lee  of  the  class  of  1773,  "Light  Horse  Harry" 
of  beloved  Revolutionary  fame,  who  delivered  the 
eulogium  in  the  United  States  Senate  on  the  death 
of  Washington,  and  who  on  that  occasion  first  gave 
utterance  to  the  famous  and  so  appropriate  charac- 
terization of  the  great  soldier-statesman,  —  "first 
in  war,  first  in  peace  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen." 


109 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    REIGN    OF    TERROR 

WITH  the  passing  of  the  great  personality  of 
John  Witherspoon,  Princeton  fell  upon 
evil  days.  It  was  no  idle  boast  that  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  had  become  the  "principal  resort  of 
American  youth  from  the  Hudson  to  Georgia." 
But  under  a  less  liberal  policy  during  the  next 
quarter  of  a  century,  the  prestige  the  great  war 
president  had  given  the  college  was  to  dwindle 
until  it  was  gradually  brought  almost  to  the  point 
of  dissolution.  The  chief  influences  in  this  retro- 
gression were  internal  disorders  and  subserviency 
to  denominationalism. 

Witherspoon  understood  his  boys.  He  was  not 
only  their  inspiring  teacher  and  their  great  exemplar 
in  heroic  deeds ;  he  was  also  their  sympathetic 
adviser  in  affairs  of  lesser  moment.  He  entered 
into  their  daily  lives.  And  although  he  instilled 
respect  for  law,  he  knew  how  to  temper  justice  with 
mercy.  His  generosity  was  no  less  marked  in  his 
assistance  to  needy  students  from  his  own  purse 
than  in  his  administration  of  discipline.  Unlike 

110 


THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR 

some  of  his  predecessors  and  his  immediate  suc- 
cessors, he  was  blessed  with  the  saving  grace  of  an 
ample  sense  of  humor.  And  he  could  appreciate  a 
joke  even  when  it  was  on  himself.  A  mischievous 
student  once  set  a  trap  for  a  tutor  by  placing  a  pan 
of  dishwater  over  a  door  in  Nassau  Hall.  Doctor 
Witherspoon  accidentally  fell  into  the  trap  and  was 
drenched.  When  in  fear  and  trembling  the 
perpetrator  of  the  practical  joke  offered  his 
apologies,  President  Witherspoon  merely  called  his 
attention  to  the  college  law  forbidding  the  throwing 
of  water  into  the  entries  of  the  college  or  out  of  the 
windows. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  imagine  this  liberalized 
descendant  of  John  Knox  as  very  much  concerned 
over  the  doctrines  of  infant  damnation,  original 
sin,  and  total  depravity.  "Pious  youth"  was  to 
him  a  term  which  was  not  exclusively  definitive  of 
its  counterpart  in  the  flesh.  He  knew  that  his  young 
barbarians  were  not  angels,  and  he  was  wise  enough 
to  know  that  they  had  to  have  an  outlet  for  their 
animal  spirits.  His  safety  valve  was  his  fields  at 
"Tusculum",  where  he  shrewdly  turned  their 
surplus  energy  to  his  and  their  advantage.  In 
these  days  the  same  thing  is  done  (and  sometimes 
overdone)  by  athletics,  which  had  no  recognized 
place  in  the  life  of  our  academic  ancestors.  But 
it  is  hardly  possible  that  John  Witherspoon  was 
responsible  for  a  college  law  passed  in  the  closing 

111 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

years  of  his  reign,  when  he  had  relinquished  ad- 
ministrative details  to  Vice-President  Smith.  This 
law  is  one  of  the  earliest  evidences  of  a  primitive 
form  of  athletics  among  the  undergraduates.  It 
declared  that  whereas  it  appeared  "that  a  play  at 
present  much  practiced  by  the  small  boys  among 
the  students  and  by  the  grammar  scholars  with 
balls  and  sticks,  in  the  back  campus  of  the  college", 
was  "in  itself  low  and  unbecoming  gentlemen  and 
students",  and  was  "attended  with  great  danger  to 
the  health  by  sudden  and  alternate  heats  and 
colds",  and  tended  "by  accidents  almost  unavoid- 
able in  that  play  to  disfiguring  and  maiming  those 
who  engaged  in  it" ;  and  whereas  there  were  "many 
amusements  both  more  honorable  and  more  useful", 
the  faculty  therefore  thought  it  "incumbent  on 
them  to  prohibit  the  students  and  scholars  from 
using  the  play  aforesaid."  This  game  was  probably 
"shinny",  the  ancestor  of  hockey. 

This  rule  was  a  harbinger  of  the  policy  of  Draco- 
nian discipline  which  was  to  succeed  Witherspoon's 
liberal  reign,  a  policy  which  by  constantly  tightening 
the  screws  was  to  emerge  in  a  reign  of  terror. 

On  the  side  of  undergraduate  government,  the 
period  was  marked  by  constant  friction  between 
the  faculty  and  students  ;  rebellion  against  authority 
was  characteristic  of  the  time.  The  "seething 
chaldron"  of  resistance  was  constantly  at  fever  heat, 
and  on  more  than  one  occasion  it  boiled  over  with 


Little  Hall 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

disastrous  results.  Witherspoon  had  been  dead 
less  than  a  decade  when  Nassau  Hall  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  and  everything  tended  to  confirm  the 
suspicion  that  students  were  responsible  for  its 
destruction. 

The  trustees  had  given  Witherspoon  a  free  hand, 
but  they  now  stepped  in  and  treated  the  faculty  like 
inferiors  not  to  be  trusted,  and  the  faculty  in  turn 
retaliated  on  their  charges  with  a  schoolmaster 
policy  devoid  of  either  tact  or  understanding. 
Never  was  such  a  policy  less  likely  to  succeed.  For 
the  spirit  of  the  age  was  peculiarly  a  spirit  of  resist- 
ance to  oppression.  The  French  Revolution  had 
not  convulsed  Europe  without  its  effects  upon 
America,  and  particularly  upon  American  youth. 
" Liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity"  embodied  a  new 
political  philosophy,  the  influence  of  which  was  by 
no  means  confined  to  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  anniversary  of  the  fall  of  the  Bastille  was 
enthusiastically  celebrated  at  Princeton  in  1793, 
with  a  ball  at  one  of  the  taverns  and  the  brilliant 
illumination  of  Nassau  Hall.  The  French  and 
American  colors  were  interwoven  in  the  decorations 
and  costumes,  and  over  the  main  entrance  of  Nassau 
Hall  a  transparency  combining  the  American  and 
French  arms  proclaimed  the  unity  in  spirit  of 
the  two  young  republics.  Around  a  huge  tree  of 
liberty  French  visitors  sang  The  Marseillaise  and 
41  there  was  a  spirit  of  animation  throughout  the 

113 


THE   STORY  OF  PRIXCETOX 

whole"  which  left  no  uncertainty  of  the  sympathy 
of  the  students  with  the  cause  of  liberty  and  equality 
for  all  men.  It  can  be  readily  understood  how  this 
influence  came  into  the  daily  life  of  the  students, 
and  how  unreasoning  oppression  was  resisted  by  a 
rebellious  spirit  which  degenerated  from  liberty  into 
license.  On  a  small  scale  the  Reign  of  Terror  which 
followed  the  French  Revolution  was  reenacted  on 
the  Princeton  campus. 

Upon  the  death  of  Witherspoon,  there  was  no 
question  that  his  son-in-law,  Vice-President  Samuel 
Stanhope  Smith,  would  succeed  to  the  presidency. 
He  was  elected  in  May,  1795,  the  first  Princeton 
graduate  to  occupy  the  presidential  chair.  He  was 
also  the  first  president  of  Hampden-Sidney  College, 
to  which  he  was  elected  six  years  after  his  graduation 
from  Princeton  in  1769.  He  later  returned  to  Prince- 
ton in  1779  as  the  first  incumbent  of  the  chair  of 
moral  philosophy,  and  in  1786  he  became  the  vice- 
president  of  the  college. 

Doctor  Smith  was  distinctively  the  cloistered 
scholar.  From  the  day  he  entered  Princeton  as  a 
boy  of  fifteen,  almost  his  entire  life  was  spent  within 
the  shelter  of  academic  shades.  By  personal  gifts 
he  was  singularly  formed  for  the  scholastic  life.  Tall, 
slender,  and  dignified,  he  was  strikingly  handsome, 
and  to  a  winning  personality  he  added  a  fine  voice 
and  talents  of  expression  which  brought  him  rec- 
ognition as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  orators  of 

114 


THE   REIGN  OF   TERROR 

his  time.  Washington's  correspondence  shows  how 
fully  Doctor  Smith,  in  the  early  years  of  his  admin- 
istration, possessed  public  confidence  as  an  instructor 
of  youth.  And  to  the  office  of  president  he  brought 
a  catholicity  of  spirit  and  a  broad  view  of  Princeton's 
destiny  which  under  more  favorable  circumstances 
would  have  ranked  him  among  the  great  college 
presidents.  But,  like  many  another  brilliant  scholar, 
Stanhope  Smith  was  hampered  by  the  defects  of 
his  high  qualities.  One  cannot  escape  the  con- 
viction that  the  injection  into  his  personality  of 
some  of  the  rugged  determination  of  a  Witherspoon 
or  a  McCosh  would  have  effected  a  great  change  in 
the  history  of  his  administration. 

Though  trained  in  theology  and  famed  for  his 
oratory,  President  Smith  had  a  keen  appreciation  of 
science,  and  his  introduction  of  scientific  studies 
was  his  largest  contribution  to  the  college.  He  was 
far  in  advance  of  his  time  in  the  appreciation  of  the 
principles  of  evolution.  Opposed  by  influential 
theologians  who  feared  the  effect  of  science  on  the 
accepted  doctrine  of  creation,  the  scientific  element 
which  he  introduced  was  nevertheless  to  confound 
its  opponents  and  to  flourish  in  succeeding  adminis- 
trations. 

In  Doctor  Smith's  first  two  years  the  first  chair  of 
chemistry  and  the  first  chair  of  natural  history  in  any 
American  college  were  established.  A  laboratory 
was  fitted  up  in  Nassau  Hall,  chemical  apparatus 

115 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

was  installed,  and  Doctor  John  Maclean,  lately 
landed  from  Scotland,  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Chemistry  and  Natural  History.  This  was  an 
important  step,  not  only  because  it  marked  the 
beginning  of  scientific  studies  as  a  separate  depart- 
ment at  Princeton,  but  also  because  it  brought  to 
the  faculty  the  father  of  a  future  president,  a  man 
whose  devotion  to  the  college  was  to  prove  its 
greatest  asset  in  the  lean  years  of  more  than  two 
decades. 

Through  President  Smith's  activity,  an  annual 
grant  of  six  hundred  pounds  for  three  years  was 
secured  from  the  New  Jersey  Legislature,  the  only 
state  aid  Princeton  has  ever  received.  The  new 
professor  in  the  sciences  enjoyed  great  popularity, 
and  the  new  scientific  spirit  was  attracting  increased 
enrollment.  But  this  liberal  policy  on  the  side  of 
the  curriculum  was  hampered  by  a  narrow  and  re- 
strictive attitude  toward  the  students  which  speedily 
brought  a  check  to  progress. 

In  1800  occurred  the  first  skirmish  of  this  period 
of  rebellion.  Elias  Ellmaker  of  the  class  of  1801, 
afterward  a  pioneer  advocate  of  the  abolition  of 
negro  slavery,  was  then  a  senior  in  college.  In  a 
letter  to  his  father,  he  described  the  outbreak  as 
follows : 

The  mornings  being  very  cold  this  winter  &  the  tutors 
praying  very  long  in  the  morning,  some  of  the  students  fell 
into  a  practice  of  scraping  &  disturbing  them  during  their 

116 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

performance  they  past  undetected  for  some  considerable 
time.  At  last  they  took  up  three  members  of  the  Senior 
Class  on  suspicion  they  told  them  that  they  had  proof  of 
their  guilt  the  students  thinking  that  they  had,  imme- 
diately confessed  thinking  by  that  means  to  be  cleared 
however  it  proved  the  contrary  &  they  were  immediately 
suspended  from  colledge.  two  of  the  Gentlemen  being 
Virginians  &  the  greater  part  of  the  students  being  from 
that  settlement,  thought  the  determination  of  the  faculty 
to  be  too  severe  they  according  together  with  a  number  of 
others  determined  to  resent  it  by  disturbances  Bullets, 
brick-bats  &c,  barrels  of  stones  &  other  combustibles  rung 
through  the  colledge  for  two  or  three  days.  Dr  Smith 
lectured  us,  all  was  silent  for  about  two  weeks  one  of  the 
other  Gentlemen  who  was  suspended  took  it  in  his  head  to 
beat  some  of  the  tutors,  he  accordingly  by  a  concerted 
plan,  lay  in  weight  in  the  entries  (it  being  after  night) 
whilst  one  of  the  students  rolled  a  three  pounder  the 
tutor  coming  out  to  pick  up  the  bullet,  he  immediately 
attacked  him  &  beat  him,  then  cleared  himself  unknown. 
This  again  stirred  up  the  students  &  for  about  three  days 
the  Colledge  re-echoed  with  stones.  Dr.  Smith  lectured 
us,  called  us  together  about  ten  O'clock  at  night,  but  all  in 
vain,  he  then  determined  to  shut  up  colledge,  till  a  board 
of  trustees  met.  But  fortunately  all  disturbance  ceased 
&  the  Colledge  returned  to  its  former  regularity  &c. 

The  tutor  for  whom  the  Virginian  "lay  in  weight" 
was  either  Henry  Kollock  or  Frederick  Beasly. 
These  young  graduates  were  the  only  tutors  of  that 
year,  but  which  of  them  the  unknown  Gentleman 
from  Virginia  "attacked  ...  &  beat"  does  not 
appear. 

117 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Two  years  later  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  authority 
was  to  be  manifested  in  an  even  more  shocking 
manner.  To  the  modern  alumnus  or  undergraduate, 
who  looks  upon  Nassau  Hall  with  a  reverence  akin 
to  religion,  it  is  almost  incomprehensible  that  his 
academic  ancestors  of  a  century  ago  could  have  laid 
violent  hands  upon  that  venerated  landmark.  But 
to  the  youthful  "patriots"  of  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  Nassau  Hall,  within  whose  walls 
practically  all  of  the  restricted  college  life  of  the  time 
was  confined,  seems  to  have  borne  the  semblance 
of  a  prison  ;  nor  was  this  semblance  limited  to  the 
fancy  of  the  students.  Doctor  James  W.  Alexander, 
in  his  "Familiar  Letters"  describing  his  life  as  a 
tutor,  was  wont  to  begin  with  "From  my  Cell, 
Nassau  Hall";  and  with  the  undergraduates' 
perverted  ideas  of  liberty  and  equality,  it  does  not 
seem  so  strange  that  the  old  scholastic  stronghold 
should  have  become  to  them  the  symbol  of  bond- 
age —  another  Bastille  to  be  demolished. 

That  it  was  demolished  by  the  juvenile  rebels 
there  is  little  doubt.  In  an  afternoon  of  March, 
1802,  the  old  building,  which  had  then  stood  for 
over  half  a  century,  was  destroyed  by  fire,  only  its 
imperishable  stone  walls  remaining  standing.  All 
the  repairs  made  since  the  war  were  wiped  out.  Of 
the  three  thousand  volumes,  which  through  years 
of  economy  and  toil  had  been  collected  to  form  the 
library,  all  but  one  hundred  went  up  in  smoke,  and 

118 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

only  the  new  scientific  apparatus  was  rescued  from 
the  flames.  It  was  the  worst  disaster  Princeton  had 
suffered  since  the  Revolution,  and  the  shock  of  the 
fire  of  1802  was  the  more  poignant  because  of  the 
conviction  that  the  wound  was  self-inflicted. 

Investigation  by  a  trustees'  committee  failed  to 
dispel  the  suspicion  that  the  fire  had  been  started 
intentionally  by  the  students,  though  no  direct  proof 
was  discovered.  In  these  circumstances  the  only 
punishment  was  the  dismissal  of  half  a  dozen  students 
as  "unwholesomely  connected"  with  the  disaster. 

A  month  later  college  exercises  were  resumed  in 
the  president's  house  and  the  residences  of  professors. 
An  appeal  was  made  to  the  country  for  financial 
aid,  and  President  Smith  went  to  the  South  and 
West  on  a  foraging  expedition.  Altogether  about 
forty-two  thousand  dollars  was  raised.  Nassau 
Hall  was  rebuilt  and  was  again  ready  for  use  the 
year  after  its  destruction. 

President  Smith  declared  that  the  fire  had  been 
due  to  vice  and  irreligion,  and  the  trustees  stepped 
in  and  again  tightened  the  screws  of  discipline. 
Freshmen  and  sophomores  were  required  to  study 
together  with  a  tutor  present.  A  pledge  was  de- 
manded of  the  students  that  they  would  obey  the 
laws  of  the  college.  They  were  required  to  promise 
not  to  go  to  a  tavern  or  even  to  a  pastry  or  grocery 
shop  ;  not  to  have  any  "  parties  "  in  their  rooms  "for 
eating  or  drinking",  nor  "to  stake  money  on  any 

119 


game",  nor  "to  keep  firearms",  nor  "to  have 
anything  to  do  with  any  combination  against  the 
college  authorities."  As  a  condition  of  a  student's 
entrance  to  college,  a  pledge  was  exacted  of  his 
parent  or  guardian,  limiting  the  amount  of  money 
the  student  should  receive  —  the  total  necessary 
college  expenses  being  estimated  at  $185  a  year. 

The  students  and  faculty  were  called  together  and 
addressed  by  Doctor  Ashbel  Green  of  the  trustees, 
who  gave  the  little  academic  community  to  under- 
stand that  the  board  meant  business.  He  intimated 
that  lack  of  family  discipline  was  responsible  for 
the  students'  defiance  of  authority.  As  the  college 
now  stood  in  loco  parentis,  it  was  going  to  do  its 
duty  regardless  of  consequences.  The  students 
were  then  ordered  to  sign  the  pledge  to  obey  the 
rules,  or  leave  college,  and  a  solemn  injunction  was 
laid  upon  the  faculty  to  see  that  their  charges  kept 
their  pledges. 

That  the  disturbances  of  the  period  were  not 
inspired  by  any  one  group  of  students,  but  were 
due  to  a  rebellious  spirit  that  persisted  throughout 
several  years,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  some  of 
these  outbreaks  came  at  intervals  longer  than  a 
college  generation.  All  of  the  students  who  had 
witnessed  the  fire  of  1802  were  gone  when  the  next 
serious  revolt  occurred  in  1807.  The  college  had 
recovered  from  the  fire  of  1802  and  was  seemingly 
again  in  a  prosperous  condition,  the  class  of  1806 

120 


THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR 

with  fifty-four  members  being  the  largest  graduated 
up  to  that  time.  All  but  one  of  the  states  were 
represented  in  its  membership.  For  several  years 
the  college  had  had  an  average  enrollment  of  nearly 
two  hundred.  From  the  point  of  view  of  prosperity, 
this  was  President  Smith's  best  year.  But  the  spirit 
of  rebellion  was  not  dead  ;  it  broke  out  with  increased 
fury  in  the  "Riot  of  1807",  a  reversal  which  reduced 
the  enrollment  by  more  than  half,  and  from  which 
the  institution  did  not  recover  for  years. 

The  primary  cause  of  the  "Riot  of  1807"  was  the 
dismissal  of  three  popular  students.  It  was  charged 
that  these  students  had  insulted  a  college  officer. 
Undergraduate  sentiment  was  evidently  back  of 
them,  and  the  campus  organized  for  their  defense. 
Upon  their  summary  expulsion,  a  committee  ap- 
pointed by  the  students  demanded  that  the  case  be 
reconsidered  and  that  the  faculty  retract  its  re- 
flections upon  them.  But  the  faculty  was  obdurate. 
President  Smith  called  the  college  together  in  the 
prayer  hall  and  announced  that  the  roll  would  be 
called ;  that  each  student  should  answer  whether 
or  not  he  would  submit  to  the  authority  of  the 
faculty.  That  announcement  started  the  riot.  The 
students  raised  a  yell  and  rushed  out  of  the  building. 
The  upshot  of  the  subsequent  proceedings  was  that 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  of  the  two  hundred 
students  then  in  college  were  either  expelled  or 
suspended.  In  the  course  of  time,  fifty-seven  were 

121 


THE   STORY  OF  PRIXCETOX 

reinstated  and  received  their  degrees,  but  sixty- 
eight  never  returned. 

Again  the  trustees  tightened  discipline.  The 
board  intimated  that  the  faculty  was  lax  in  the  en- 
forcement of  the  college  laws.  Once  more  parents 
were  blamed  for  providing  "in  too  great  abundance 
the  means  of  dissipation."  A  bursar  was  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  the  students'  money,  deducting 
li  %  for  his  services.  Parents  were  required  to 
sign  an  agreement  not  to  supply  their  sons  with 
more  money  than  was  necessary  for  expenses,  and 
not  to  pay  any  debts  incurred  by  their  sons.  No 
more  than  two  students  were  to  be  allowed  to  room 
together,  and  the  total  enrollment  was  to  be  limited 
to  one  hundred  fifty.  A  committee  of  the  trus- 
tees was  appointed  to  make  periodical  visits  and 
investigate  everything  in  sight.  This  committee 
was  to  keep  an  eye  not  only  on  the  students,  but  on 
every  member  of  the  faculty.  All  students  were  to 
be  kept  within  college  bounds.  The  faculty  was 
enjoined  to  keep  an  absence  book  and  all  absences 
were  to  be  recorded  with  the  reasons  therefor,  for 
the  inspection  of  the  trustees. 

A  year  after  the  "Riot  of  1807",  two  of  the  pro- 
fessors resigned,  and  the  next  year,  when  the  trustees 
attributed  disorders  in  the  college  to  lack  of  discipline, 
all  three  of  the  tutors  resigned.  Until  their  places 
were  filled,  these  resignations  left  President  Smith 
and  Professor  Maclean  as  the  only  members  of  the 

122 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

teaching  force.  The  enrollment  had  shrunk  to 
ninety-one. 

The  leaders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  looked 
askance  on  President  Smith's  liberal  views  of  the 
purpose  and  destiny  of  the  college.  As  professor  of 
theology,  his  early  impulse  toward  the  evolutionary 
theory  had  aroused  antagonism  among  the  strictly 
orthodox.  This  dissatisfaction  undoubtedly  gave 
impetus  to  the  movement  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  An  agree- 
ment was  made  between  the  trustees  of  the  college 
and  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  giving  that  body  authority  to  erect  buildings 
on  the  college  grounds  and,  pending  their  erection,  the 
General  Assembly  was  to  have  the  use  of  the  existing 
college  buildings  as  well  as  the  library.  Special  con- 
cessions were  made  to  students  sent  to  the  college  by 
the  General  Assembly.  Moreover,  thereafter  there 
was  to  be  no  professorship  of  theology  in  the  college. 
Several  additional  important  concessions  were  made 
by  the  college  for  the  benefit  of  the  seminary. 

While  the  seminary  never  took  full  advantage  of 
all  of  these  concessions,  the  establishment  of  a 
separate  theological  institution  in  Princeton  had  a 
profound  influence  on  the  college  to  the  detriment 
of  its  liberal  development  for  over  half  a  century. 
More  than  half  the  trustees  of  the  college  elected 
in  that  period  were  trustees,  directors,  or  professors 
of  the  seminary.  A  by-law  of  the  trustees  of  the 

123 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

college  provided  that  at  least  twelve  of  the  twenty- 
seven  members  of  the  board  should  be  clergymen, 
and  so  thoroughly  established  did  the  ecclesiastical 
control  become  that  Doctor  Carnahan  was  at  the 
same  time  the  president  of  the  college  and  the 
president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  seminary. 

With  the  leading  trustees  of  the  college  centering 
their  interest  in  a  separate  institution  established 
in  the  same  small  town,  the  depressing  effect  upon 
the  former  was  inevitable.  For  example,  during 
this  period  gifts  naturally  flowed  to  the  new  enter- 
prise, while  the  funds  of  the  older  institution  lan- 
guished. The  curriculum  also  was  necessarily 
affected  by  the  spirit  of  theological  dominancy. 
Speaking  of  the  faculty  of  the  forties,  Professor 
Basil  L.  Gildersleeve  of  the  class  of  1849  says  :  "In 
those  days,  missionaries,  returned  for  failing  health 
or  proved  inefficiency,  formed  one  of  the  reservoirs 
from  which  academic  rills  were  replenished." 

While  the  ecclesiastical  control  of  that  period  has 
long  since  passed  away,  the  fact  that  the  two  institu- 
tions are  located  in  the  same  place,  and  that  both 
bear  the  name  of  "Princeton",  still  gives  rise  to  the 
impression  in  the  popular  mind  that  their  relationship 
is  something  more  than  merely  that  of  friendly 
neighbors.  This  is  unfortunate  for  both  institutions, 
for  of  course  there  is  absolutely  no  corporate  con- 
nection between  them,  and  neither  is  in  any  respect 
responsible  for  the  teachings  or  acts  of  the  other. 

124 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

There  is  ample  reason  to  believe  that  President 
Smith  did  not  approve  of  the  measures  which  ulti- 
mately led  to  the  subordination  of  the  college  to 
these  theological  interests.  The  fact  is  that  the 
leaders  in  the  movement  were  his  severest  critics. 
He  was  not  a  member  of  the  committee  of  trustees 
that  made  the  agreement  with  the  General  Assembly, 
and  it  is  significant  that  shortly  after  the  signing  of 
that  agreement,  Doctor  Smith,  old  and  in  ill  health, 
and  unable  to  stem  the  tide  of  clericalism,  resigned 
the  presidency. 

As  tutor,  treasurer,  professor,  vice-president  and 
president,  Doctor  Smith  had  served  the  college  for 
over  a  third  of  a  century.  In  the  difficult  period  of 
recovery  after  the  Revolution  he  had  been  Wither- 
spoon's  loyal  coadjutor,  and  in  his  own  administra- 
tion, hampered  as  he  was  by  the  narrow  and  re- 
pressive policy,  he  had  yet  exhibited  a  liberal  spirit 
and  a  large  view  of  the  destiny  of  the  college  that 
were  far  in  advance  of  his  age.  Under  a  broader 
policy  on  the  part  of  the  trustees,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  his  plans  for  the  development  of  the  institution 
would  have  borne  abundant  fruit. 

In  1803-1804,  owing  to  the  growth  of  the  college, 
two  new  buildings  were  erected.  These  were  com- 
panion structures,  one  of  which  still  stands  at  the 
western  end  of  Nassau  Hall.  The  other,  its  exact 
duplicate,  formerly  stood  directly  opposite,  at  the 
eastern  end  of  Nassau  Hall.  This  building  contained 

125 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

the  college  kitchen  and  refectory  on  the  basement 
floor,  and  recitation  rooms,  laboratories,  and  a 
primitive  observatory  on  the  upper  floors.  Known 
at  first  as  the  "Refectory",  it  afterward  became 
"Philosophical  Hall."  It  was  in  this  building  that 
Joseph  Henry  conducted  many  of  his  pioneer 
experiments.  The  building  was  taken  down  in  1873 
to  make  room  for  the  Chancellor  Green  Library. 

The  other  building  erected  in  President  Smith's 
time  was  at  first  known  as  the  Library,  which  it  con- 
tained, as  well  as  recitation  rooms.  In  later  times 
it  was  called  the  "University  Offices"  until  in  1915 
it  was  renamed  "Stanhope  Hall",  a  belated  recogni- 
tion of  the  services  of  President  Samuel  Stanhope 
Smith. 

Upon  President  Smith's  resignation  the  trustees 
voted  him  an  annuity  and  a  house,  and  also  extended 
to  him  their  thanks.  As  ex-president  he  continued 
to  reside  in  Princeton  until  his  death  in  1819. 

The  opposition  to  President  Smith's  progressive 
spirit  triumphed  in  the  election  to  the  presidency 
of  the  Reverend  Doctor  Ashbel  Green,  valedictorian 
at  the  memorable  Commencement  of  1783.  Doctor 
Green  had  been  a  tutor  and  professor  in  the  college 
during  the  three  and  a  half  years  following  his  gradua- 
tion and  had  since  been  pastor  of  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Philadelphia.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  had  served  on  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
college,  and  he  was  at  once  the  chief  disciplinarian 

126 


THE  REIGN  OF   TERROR 

of  the  board  and  the  head  and  front  of  the  orthodox 
antagonism  to  the  Smith  administration.  Although 
in  his  diary  he  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to 
Doctor  Smith  for  advice  which  led  him  to  choose 
the  ministry  rather  than  the  law,  with  the  passing 
years  his  relations  with  his  former  teacher  had  not 
been  cordial.  Indeed  he  came  to  have  such  a  poor 
opinion  of  the  college  under  Doctor  Smith's  adminis- 
tration that  he  sent  his  own  son  to  be  educated  at 
another  institution  —  though  it  is  worthy  of  note 
that  he  did  not  relinquish  his  Princeton  trusteeship. 

Doctor  Green  was  wont  to  complain  that  he 
suffered  from  "a  settled  gloom  of  mind."  If  he 
was  utterly  lacking  in  an  understanding  of  the  boys 
he  was  called  to  rule  over,  he  was  certainly  not  want- 
ing in  self-appreciation.  Always  in  dead  earnest, 
in  piety  he  assuredly  was  unexcelled ;  pompous, 
zealous,  devout,  uncompromising,  prejudiced,  aggres- 
sive, he  was  convinced  that  the  college  was  in  a  most 
deplorable  condition,  and  he  began  his  presidency 
with  a  grim  determination  "to  reform  it  or  to  fall 
under  the  attempt." 

His  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  state  of  the  college, 
which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  make  known,  was  evi- 
dently accentuated  by  his  convictions  on  the  doc- 
trines of  total  depravity  and  original  sin.  His 
characteristic  attitude  toward  his  students  was  an 
attitude  of  suspicion.  He  was  always  on  his  guard 
against  some  deviltry  —  real  or  imagined.  Good 

127 


behavior  on  the  part  of  his  young  barbarians  was 
consequently  the  last  thing  to  be  expected  in  an 
atmosphere  surcharged  with  such  distrust.  What 
is  now  known  as  college  loyalty  on  the  part  of  the 
students,  as  well  as  the  alumni,  was  practically 
nonexistent. 

It  has  been  said  that  Doctor  Green's  administra- 
tion vibrated  between  revivals  and  rebellions.  He 
began  by  adopting  a  formidable  list  of  resolutions 
for  his  own  guidance,  and  by  assembling  the  faculty 
for  a  special  day  of  prayer.  But  it  soon  became 
evident  that  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  authority 
was  stronger  than  ever  among  the  students,  a  spirit 
which  was  constantly  manifested  in  more  or  less 
virulent  degree  and  which  on  three  occasions  during 
the  ten  years  of  Doctor  Green's  iron  rule  broke  out 
in  open  revolt. 

At  the  outset  Doctor  Green  hoped  to  counteract 
this  spirit  by  an  "indulgence",  which  took  the  form 
of  inviting  the  students  to  dine  at  the  president's 
table  in  groups  —  a  ceremony  which  must  have  been 
a  frightful  ordeal  for  the  reluctant  beneficiaries. 
Even  the  change  from  refectory  fare  was  scarcely 
welcomed,  under  conditions  of  such  overpowering 
solemnity.  And  Doctor  Green  was  finally  forced  to 
admit  that  his  "indulgence"  had  failed  to  "reclaim 
the  vicious." 

The  elder  Maclean  having  resigned  his  professor- 
ship, Doctor  Green's  faculty  was  organized  with  the 

128 


The  School  of  Science 


THE   REIGN  OF   TERROR 

Reverend  Elijah  Slack  of  the  class  of  1808  as  vice- 
president  and  professor  of  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy,  Philip  Lindsly  of  the  class  of  1804  as 
senior  tutor,  and  a  little  later  as  professor  of  lan- 
guages, and  with  a  junior  tutor.  Professor  Slack 
was  made  clerk  of  the  faculty  and  Professor  Lindsly 
clerk  of  the  trustees.  The  filling  of  these  offices 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  merely  an  empty 
formality.  For  Doctor  Green,  not  even  trusting  his 
own  faculty,  himself  took  personal  charge  of  the 
keeping  of  the  minutes  of  both  bodies.  Had  there 
been  a  "Faculty  Song"  in  those  days,  a  not  inappro- 
priate verse  for  the  "prexy"  of  the  second  decade 
of  the  nineteenth  century  might  have  been  that 
sung  with  so  much  gusto  by  irreverent  moderns  : 

Am  I  the  boss  or  am  I  the  show,  — 

Am  I  the  major  general  or  a  hobo ; 

I'd  like  to  know  who's  a-running  this  show, 

Is  it  me  or  Emilio  Aguinaldo  ? 

If  assiduity  in  administering  discipline  could  have 
made  a  successful  administration,  Doctor  Green 
assuredly  deserved  success.  During  his  first  year  he 
caught  and  dismissed  eight  students,  one  of  them 
for  tolling  the  college  bell  at  dead  of  night,  on  which 
occasion  the  indefatigable  despot  of  the  academic 
shades  routed  his  faculty  out  of  bed  at  three  A.M.  to 
sit  on  the  case  and  dismiss  the  culprit.  The  in- 
genuity of  this  victim  of  discipline  in  keeping  the 

129 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

"rouser"  tolling  while  he  himself  maintained  strict 
compliance  with  the  rule  requiring  students  to  be 
in  their  rooms,  deserved  a  happier  fate.  An  under- 
standing faculty  might  have  turned  such  ingenuity 
to  the  youngster's  advantage. 

The  spirit  of  mischief  which  was  abroad  on  the 
campus  was  fostered  and  increased  by  the  never- 
ending  discontent  with  refectory  fare.  The  morn- 
ing cup  of  near-coffee,  concocted  from  beans  and 
rye,  with  molasses  as  a  sweetener,  scarcely  started 
the  day  with  a  cheerful  spirit.  Even  so,  the  trustees 
felt  constrained  to  adopt  a  resolution  setting  forth 
that  "the  style  of  living  in  the  refectory  is  more 
luxurious  than  it  ought  to  be  ",  and  requested  the 
president  to  state  to  the  steward  that  "no  unneces- 
sary expense  may  be  incurred  for  furnishing  the 
table  for  the  students."  With  the  students'  notori- 
ously ravenous  appetites  demanding  satisfaction,  it 
is  not  remarkable  that  the  trustees  felt  constantly 
called  upon  to  adopt  new  regulations  against  "fre- 
quenting taverns  and  eating-houses"  and  to  place 
restraints  upon  tavern  keepers. 

A  picturesque  reflex  of  these  official  injunctions 
has  come  down  in  the  lively  poem  by  Washington 
Irving  and  James  K.  Paulding,  "The  Lay  of  the 
Scottish  Fiddle",  which  was  inspired  by  a  visit  of 
the  authors  to  Princeton  in  1813.  A  scene  at 
"Lord"  Joline's  famous  hostelry,  which  since  Rev- 
olutionary times  had  hung  out  "The  Sign  of  the 

130 


THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR 

College"    (now   the   Nassau   Inn),   is   described   as 
follows  —  with  evident  poetic  license  : 

Around  the  table's  verge  was  spread 
Full  many  a  wine-bewildered  head, 
Of  student  learn'd,  from  Nassau  Hall, 
Who,  broken  from  scholastic  thrall, 
Had  set  him  down  to  drink  outright 
Through  all  the  livelong  merry  night, 
And  sing  as  loud  as  he  could  bawl, 
Such  is  the  custom  of  Nassau  Hall. 
No  Latin  now,  or  heathen  Greek 
The  Senior's  double  tongue  can  speak. 
Juniors,  from  fam'd  Pierian  fount, 
Had  drank  so  deep  they  scarce  could  count 
The  candles  on  the  reeling  table, 
While  emulous  Freshmen,  hardly  able 
To  drink,  their  stomachs  were  so  full, 
Hiccupp'd  and  took  another  pull, 
Right  glad  to  see  their  merry  host 
Who  never  wine  or  wassail  crost. 
They  will'd  him  join  the  merry  throng 
And  grace  their  revels  with  a  song. 

The  obliging  boniface  is  represented  as  responding 
to  this  demand : 

Professors  are  always  a  preaching  and  bawling 
And  drinking  good  liquor,  sheer  beastliness  calling. 
They  say  that  the  headache  and  tavern  bills  float 
In  each  glass  of  good  stingo  that  flows  down  the  throat. 
Yet  whoop,  boys  !  a  fig  for  your  musty  professors, 
They  are  all  no  better  than  father  confessors. 

131 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

The  revels  are  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of  a  sky- 
larking country  party  : 

And  many  lads  and  lasses  too, 
A  buxom,  witching,  merry  crew, 
As  love's  true  gramarye  ever  knew, 
From  country  round  have  come,  they  say, 
To  dance  the  livelong  night  away. 
Flew  ope  the  door,  and  in  there  came 
Full  many  a  dancing,  loving  dame, 
With  chintz  short-gown  and  apron  check'd 
And  head  with  long-ear'd  lawn  cap  deck'd, 
And  high  heel'd  shoe  and  buckles  sheen, 
And  bosom  prank'd  with  box-wood  green. 
With  these,  well  pair'd,  came  many  a  lad 
With  health  and  youthful  spirits  glad, 
To  caper  nimbly  in  Scotch  reel 
With  toes  turn'd  in,  and  outward  heel. 

A  little  over  a  year  of  the  myopic  discipline  of  the 
Green  administration  was  sufficient  to  bring  on 
what  the  trustees  characterized  as  "an  extensive, 
deep-laid  and  most  criminal  conspiracy."  The 
adolescent  conspirators  irreverently  chose  the  quiet 
of  a  Sunday  evening  to  spring  their  plot.  They 
must  have  been  secretly  at  work  for  many  days 
before.  The  tutors,  ordinarily  so  sleeplessly  vigilant, 
were  caught  off  their  guard.  An  infernal  machine 
made  from  a  huge  log  of  wood,  hollowed  out  and 
loaded  with  over  two  pounds  of  gunpowder,  was 
suddenly  exploded  in  the  main  entrance  of  Nassau 
Hall.  So  great  was  the  force  of  the  explosion  that 

132 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

the  walls  of  the  venerable  building  were  cracked 
from  top  to  bottom.  Broken  glass  fell  in  showers, 
and  a  flying  chunk  of  the  torpedo  was  driven  clear 
through  the  door  of  the  prayer  hall. 

In  the  inevitable  investigation  which  followed 
this  "criminal  conspiracy",  two  students,  one  of 
whom  had  left  college,  but  was  still  living  in  the 
village,  were  discovered  to  be  the  leaders.  They 
were  haled  before  the  grand  jury  and  one  of  them 
was  indicted  and  fined  one  hundred  dollars  and  costs. 
Evidence  of  complicity  was  adduced  against  a  dozen 
others,  and  three  of  these  were  dismissed.  The 
turbulent  spirit  was  not  confined  to  the  few  students 
against  whom  evidence  was  discovered,  for  smaller 
torpedoes  were  fired  from  time  to  time  after  the 
"great  cracker."  The  corridors  of  Nassau  Hall 
were  disfigured  with  dire  threats,  and  the  appearance 
of  college  officers  was  the  occasion  for  yelling  and 
hissing  on  the  part  of  the  students. 

The  board  of  trustees  extended  to  the  faculty  its 
warmest  thanks  for  its  "prudence,  vigilance,  fidelity 
and  energy"  in  suppressing  the  outbreak.  The 
board  solemnly  resolved  "that  if  there  has  been  any 
error,  it  has  been  an  error  on  the  side  of  lenity." 
The  proceedings,  of  which  the  following  from  the 
board's  minutes  is  a  record,  certainly  did  not  tend 
to  create  better  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  students : 

The  Board  having  observed  that  in  the  course  of  the 
testimony  given  yesterday  by  the  implicated  students 

133 


THE  STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

that  some  of  them  appeared  to  have  acted  upon  a  principle 
altogether  inadmissible  and  highly  mischievous,  —  viz., 
the  right  of  the  students  to  review  and  judge  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Faculty  in  conducting  the  discipline  of  the 
College,  —  therefore,  on  motion,  Resolved,  That  every 
student  implicated  in  this  conspiracy  be  required  in  the 
presence  of  this  Board  formally  and  explicitly  to  renounce 
the  above-mentioned  principle,  and  give  a  solemn  pledge 
to  the  Board  that  he  will  not  attempt  in  any  case  hereafter 
to  countenance  or  act  upon  it. 

The  said  students  were  then  called  in,  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Board  the  following  questions  were  then  put  to 
them  : 

1.  Do  you  relinquish  and  renounce  upon  your  honor 
the  principle  that  the  students  have  a  right  to  review  or  in 
any  manner  interfere  with  the  decisions  of  the  Faculty  in 
cases  of  discipline,  or  to  express  dissatisfaction  therewith 
by   disrespectful   conduct,    acts   of  mischief,    and   insub- 
ordination ?     Do   you    solemnly    renounce   all    such   pre- 
tensions ? 

2.  Do  you  promise  and  engage  to  and  with  this  Board 
to  abstain  hereafter  from  all  acts  founded  on  such  a  princi- 
ple, to  conduct  yourself  with  respect  and  decorum  to  the 
officers,  and  to  conform  to  the  laws  of  the  institution  ? 

To  both  which  questions  each  of  the  students  did 
solemnly  and  explicitly  answer  in  the  affirmative ;  and 
then,  after  an  admonition  from  the  Chairman  of  the 
Committee,  in  the  presence  of.  the  Board,  they  were  in- 
formed that  they  would  occupy  their  former  standing  in 
the  College. 

The  following  Commencement  was  distinguished 
by  the  presence  of  General  Winfield  Scott,  who 

134 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

unexpectedly  visited  Princeton  while  returning  to 
Virginia  from  his  Canadian  campaigns.  Bloomfield 
Mcllvaine,  the  valedictorian,  interpolated  in  his 
oration  a  complimentary  address  to  the  youthful 
hero.  The  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was 
conferred  on  General  Scott  on  this  occasion,  and  in 
his  reminiscences,  published  years  afterward,  he 
referred  with  appreciation  to  his  Princeton  visit. 

With  the  opening  of  the  next  term  the  pendulum 
swung  from  rebellion  to  religion.  President  Green 
was  moved  to  inform  the  trustees  that  the  faculty 
were  enjoying  "halcyon  days."  There  were  about 
one  hundred  students  in  college,  and  President 
Maclean,  then  an  undergraduate,  reports  that  al- 
most the  entire  body  of  students  was  pervaded  by 
serious  thought  and  feeling.  As  a  result  of  the 
revival,  a  considerable  number  of  the  students 
entered  the  ministry  —  some  of  them,  notably 
Bishops  John  Johns  and  Charles  Pettit  Mcllvaine 
of  the  classes  of  1815  and  1816  respectively,  and  the 
Reverend  Doctor  Charles  Hodge  of  the  class  of  1815, 
to  become  distinguished  leaders  in  their  denomina- 
tions. 

But  the  following  year  the  pendulum  again  swung 
backward.  President  Maclean  remarks  that  the 
Christmas  holidays  "were  the  occasion  of  more  or 
less  discipline  on  the  part  of  the  Faculty."  This 
discipline  was  the  faculty  substitute  for  Christmas 
vacation,  of  which  there  was  none  in  those  Spartan 

135 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

days.  Consequently  the  first  few  months  of  the 
year  were  the  open  season  for  revolts.  The  firing 
of  the  "great  cracker"  had  occurred  in  January, 
and  in  the  same  month  of  1817  came  the  "Great 
Rebellion",  and  both  of  these  outbreaks  took  place 
on  Sunday  nights. 

The  "Great  Rebellion"  marked  the  culmination 
of  the  most  turbulent  period  in  the  history  of  the 
college.  "Satan  fell  like  lightning  from  Heaven." 
It  was  a  battle  royal,  with  the  students  organized 
and  arrayed  on  one  side  and  the  faculty  on  the  other. 
For  several  days  there  was  no  time  for  college  exer- 
cises ;  the  arts  of  peace  went  by  the  board,  before 
the  tidal  wave  of  civil  war.  The  young  rebels  cap- 
tured Nassau  Hall,  fortified  the  building  and  held 
it  as  a  fortress,  driving  out  their  ancient  enemy,  the 
faculty.  For  days  the  old  building  was  in  a  state  of 
siege. 

Without  the  slightest  warning,  hostilities  began 
at  two  A.M.  On  a  given  signal  the  tutors  were  im- 
prisoned in  their  rooms.  All  the  doors  of  Nassau 
Hall  were  barred  and  tightly  nailed  up,  and  the  lower 
windows  were  blocked  with  firewood.  Under  cover 
of  night,  a  bold  posse  sallied  forth  from  the  fortress 
and  set  fire  to  the  college  out-buildings  in  the  rear 
campus.  While  the  fire  lighted  up  the  heavens,  the 
college  bell  -proclaimed  the.  defiance  of  the  rebels, 
and  from  every  window  came  shouts  of  derision. 
When  the  college  officers,  aroused  from  their  rest- 

136 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

less  slumber,  endeavored  to  break  into  the  building, 
they  were  repelled  by  projectiles  of  firewood,  hurled 
from  the  upper  windows.  Finally  Vice-President 
Slack,  by  some  strategy,  effected  an  entrance  and 
succeeded  in  quelling  the  rioters  —  but  it  was  only 
a  brief  truce. 

A  more  violent  outbreak  was  in  store  for  that 
afternoon.  President  Green  appealed  to  the  mayor 
of  the  borough  for  protection,  and  the  town  marshal 
was  assigned  to  the  job.  But  he  failed  to  put  in  an 
appearance  at  the  appointed  hour.  Bedlam  again 
broke  loose,  and  the  faculty,  deserted  by  the  civil 
authorities,  beat  an  inglorious  retreat,  leaving  Nassau 
Hall  in ,  complete  possession  of  the  rebels.  Now 
unrestrained  by  the  stern  hand  of  authority,  the 
students  proceeded  to  wreak  their  vengeance  on  the 
building.  The  furniture  in  the  prayer  hall,  their 
pet  aversion,  was  smashed  beyond  recognition. 
"Polers*  recess"  was  enacted  in  earnest.  Pistols 
were  fired  from  the  windows,  and  cutlasses  were 
brandished  at  the  retreating  faculty.  Growing 
bolder,  the  rebels  made  a  sortie  from  their  fortress 
and  paraded  up  and  down  on  the  front  campus, 
hurling  shouts  of  defiance  at  the  enemy. 

Then  the  insurgents  went  into  executive  session 
in  their  stronghold  and  appointed  a  committee  to 
treat  for  peace.  The  faculty  had  already  dismissed 
fourteen  of  the  students,  and  the  next  day  the 
insurgent  committee  appeared  before  the  president 

137 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

and  his  colleagues  and  demanded  the  restoration  of 
these  fourteen  until  evidence  should  be  produced  to 
establish  their  guilt.  This  demand  the  faculty 
flatly  refused  to  consider.  Thereupon  the  committee 
of  the  insurgents  returned  to  Nassau  Hall,  the  doors 
were  again  barred,  and  the  windows  were  smashed 
in  token  of  renewed  defiance. 

Again  the  faculty  appealed  to  the  civil  authorities, 
this  time  with  more  success.  The  strong  arm  of  the 
law  finally  broke  the  backbone  of  the  rebellion. 
When  some  of  the  students  were  arrested,  the  rebels 
were  ready  to  treat  for  peace.  Evidently  there  was 
much  more  wholesome  respect  for  the  civil  than  for 
the  academic  laws.  The  county  court  issued  pro- 
cesses against  twenty  students,  and  in  the  final 
reckoning  about  that  number  were  dismissed  from 
college. 

The  most  extraordinary  thing  about  this  opera 
bouffe  war  of  1817  is  that  none  of  those  who  were 
engaged  on  the  faculty  side  seems  to  have  appre- 
ciated the  humor  of  it.  It  would  make  a  wonderful 
scenario  for  a  Triangle  Club  show. 

It  is  plain  from  Doctor  Green's  diary  that  he  was 
not  a  very  enthusiastic  expansionist,  for  when  in 
1819  the  term  opened  with  something  over  one  hun- 
dred thirty  students,  he  expressed  the  conviction 
that  the  enrollment  was  as  large  as  it  ever  ought  to  be 
and  the  fervent  hope  that  there  were  "fewer  rogues" 
in  college.  President  Green  led  a  movement  for 

138 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

another  revision  of  the  college  laws.  The  militant 
president  had  particularly  in  mind  the  regulation  of 
taverns  and  eating-houses  and  the  limiting  of  the 
spending  money  of  the  students.  Disorders  at  Com- 
mencement were  to  be  put  down  with  the  assistance 
of  the  borough  police,  and  after  the  close  of  college 
students  were  to  be  under  the  authority  of  the  faculty 
and  subject  to  stringent  regulations  until  they  left 
for  home.  The  committee  even  went  so  far  as  to 
direct  the  steward  to  provide  the  conveyances  in 
which  the  students  should  take  their  departure  — 
at  their  own  expense.  Pending  their  leaving  they 
were  required  to  continue  to  take  their  meals  at  the 
refectory  —  to  avoid  the  deadly  temptations  of  the 
taverns. 

At  the  following  session  a  significant  thing  hap- 
pened. About  a  dozen  students  transferred  from 
Princeton  to  Union  College.  They  made  this 
change  because  they  could  graduate  at  Union  three 
months  earlier  than  at  Princeton,  which  shows  how 
lightly  college  ties  were  held  in  those  days.  This  was 
the  first  and  the  only  exodus  of  its  kind  in  the  history 
of  Princeton.  It  is  also  significant  that  at  this  time 
insurance  was  taken  out  on  the  college  buildings 
and  library,  for  a  total  of  twenty-two  thousand 
dollars. 

That  the  students  had  not  yet  been  tamed  was 
indicated  by  their  action  early  in  1822.  For  twenty 
years,  the  first  day  of  the  month  had  been  a  holiday. 

139 


This  brief  respite  from  scholastic  thraldom  the 
trustees  abolished.  The  students  petitioned  for  a 
restoration  of  the  holiday,  the  faculty  refused,  and 
the  students  struck.  They  took  the  day  off  any- 
how. The  only  discipline  on  this  occasion  was  the 
requirement  of  an  expression  of  regret  and  a  pledge 
not  to  do  it  again.  These  periodic  disavowals  and 
pledges  seem  not  to  have  been  taken  very  seriously. 
The  firing  of  "crackers"  in  the  college  buildings 
followed  the  episode,  and  the  biggest  "cracker"  on 
record  was  primed  for  explosion  one  night  in  March. 
It  contained  between  three  and  four  pounds  of  gun- 
powder and  undoubtedly  would  have  done  even 
greater  damage  than  the  "great  cracker"  of  1813. 
But  tutor  John  Maclean,  who  in  his  time  established 
a  great  reputation  as  a  sleuth,  discovered  the  student 
who  had  been  given  the  risky  job  of  setting  the 
"cracker"  off.  Doctor  Maclean  records  with  justi- 
fiable pride  that  he  detected  the  culprit  "just  as  he 
was  about  to  apply  a  lighted  cigar  to  the  match." 
Several  students  were  dismissed. 

These  disorders,  coupled  with  the  resignation  of 
Professor  Vethake,  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee of  trustees  to  "inquire  into  the  general  state 
of  the  institution  in  point  of  instruction  and  disci- 
pline." The  board  broadly  hinted  that  the  college 
had  suffered  a  loss  of  reputation.  Professor  Ve- 
thake's  resignation  had  been  due  in  part  at  least 
to  strained  relations  with  President  Green.  The 

140 


THE   REIGN  OF  TERROR 

trustees'  committee  recommended  a  union  of  the 
chairs  that  had  been  held  by  Professor  Vethake  and 
Professor  Green,  the  president's  son,  and  that  an 
incumbent  be  elected  to  the  new  chair.  This 
presumably  would  dispense  with  the  services  of 
Professor  Green.  President  Green  opposed  the 
action,  and  the  following  autumn  he  resigned  the 
presidency.  When  later  reflected  to  the  board  he 
declined  to  serve.  He  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
became  the  editor  of  the  Christian  Advocate,  and  for 
years  was  a  conspicuous  leader  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  lived  to  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-six. 

Princeton  students  (and  teachers)  were  probably 
no  better  and  no  worse  than  their  contemporaries  of 
other  colleges  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. For  instance,  there  is  a  tradition  that  in  1802, 
the  same  year  in  which  Nassau  Hall  was  burned, 
J.  Fenimore  Cooper  was  expelled  from  Yale  for  at- 
tempting to  blow  up  a  classmate  by  poking  explosives 
through  the  keyhole  of  the  unsuspecting  victim's 
room.  Evidently  our  academic  ancestors  of  a  hun- 
dred years  ago  were  very  fond  of  firing  off  explo- 
sives. 


141 


CHAPTER  IV 

DEPRESSION    AND    RECONSTRUCTION 

IN  the  decade  following  the  Green  administra- 
tion, the  affairs  of  the  institution  reached  their 
lowest  ebb.  But  in  1829  the  tide  turned,  a  policy  of 
reconstruction  was  inaugurated,  confidence  was 
restored,  and  the  college  entered  upon  a  period  of 
internal  peace  and  quiet  growth  which  continued 
uninterruptedly  until  the  Civil  War. 

Almost  a  half  century  is  comprehended  in  this 
period  of  depression  and  reconstruction.  It  included 
the  longest  administration  in  the  history  of  the  col- 
lege, that  of  President  Carnahan,  thirty-two  years, 
and  the  presidency  of  John  Maclean,  fourteen  years. 

Upon  the  resignation  of  President  Green,  the 
Reverend  John  H.  Rice  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  was 
at  first  elected  his  successor,  but  declined  the  office 
because  of  ill  health,  and  because  he  felt  himself 
unfitted  for  such  an  arduous  task  as  the  government 
of  a  college.  Professor  Philip  Lindsly,  the  vice- 
president,  who  had  been  acting-president  since  Doc- 
tor Green's  retirement,  was  then  elected  to  the 
presidency,  but  he  also  declined,  probably  because  his 

142 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

election  was  not  unanimous.  A  unanimous  election 
was  then  (May  12,  1823)  tendered  to  the  Reverend 
James  Carnahan,  who  had  been  graduated  from 
Princeton  in  1800,  had  served  as  a  tutor,  and  had 
successfully  conducted  a  private  school  at  George- 
town, D.C.  He  immediately  accepted  the  election 
"with  much  trembling."  He  also  wrote,  "I  dare 
not  anticipate  the  result  of  this  measure  on  my  own 
reputation  or  on  that  of  the  College."  These  ex- 
pressions of  trepidation,  however,  may  be  attributed 
to  the  modesty  for  which  he  was  noted,  rather  than 
to  any  knowledge  at  the  time  of  writing  of  the  divided 
councils  at  Princeton.  The  rude  shock  which  he 
encountered  upon  assuming  the  duties  of  his  new 
office  must  have  brought  to  his  mind  the  conviction 
that  in  his  letter  of  acceptance  he  wrote  with  un- 
witting prophecy. 

Doctor  Carnahan  was  of  sturdy  North  of  Ireland 
stock.  Born  on  a  farm  in  western  Pennsylvania  in 
1775,  as  a  youth  he  came  over  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains to  Princeton  with  a  companion  on  the  "ride 
and  hitch"  plan.  The  companion  was  his  class- 
mate Jacob  Lindly,  afterward  the  first  president 
of  the  University  of  Ohio.  Lindly  owned  the 
horse  on  which  they  took  this  interesting  trip  and 
generously  shared  it  with  his  friend.  One  would 
ride  a  stated  distance,  tie  the  horse  to  await  his 
companion,  and  then  walk.  In  this  way  they  made 
about  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  a  day.  Carnahan 

143 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

divided  with  Philemon  Hunt  the  first  honors  of  the 
class  of  1800  and  was  its  English  salutatorian.  He 
studied  theology  while  serving  as  tutor  in  the  college 
and  for  six  years  had  pastorates  in  New  York  State. 
He  had  a  classical  school  at  Princeton  and  then 
opened  the  school  at  Georgetown,  where  he  remained 
for  eleven  years  ;  at  forty-eight  he  was  elected  Prince- 
ton's ninth  president. 

With  the  accession  of  a  new  president,  the  trustees 
took  under  consideration  "measures  ...  to  com- 
plete the  faculty",  but  this  laudable  enterprise  got 
no  farther  than  mere  discussion.  There  was  no 
money  for  new  chairs,  John  Maclean  was  promoted 
to  the  professorship  of  mathematics,  and  to  the 
duties  of  this  chair  was  temporarily  added  instruction 
in  natural  philosophy.  The  versatility  of  the  old- 
time  faculty  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  during 
his  fifty  years  as  a  teacher,  Doctor  Maclean  gave 
instruction  in  mathematics,  including  mechanics  and 
optics ;  natural  philosophy,  chemistry,  astronomy, 
the  ancient  languages  and  literature,  and  the  Bible. 
Naturally  such  instruction  was  not  intensive. 

President  Carnahan's  first  faculty  consisted  of 
two  professors  and  two  tutors  —  Doctor  Lindsly  in 
Latin  and  Greek  and  belles-lettres ;  Professor 
Maclean  in  mathematics,  natural  philosophy,  and 
chemistry ;  and  Messrs.  Talmage  and  Sowers  in 
Latin,  Greek,  English  grammar  and  geography. 
The  following  year  the  Reverend  Luther  Halsey  was 

144 


The  Fits-Randolph  Gateway 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

added  in  natural  philosophy  and  chemistry.     The 
enrollment  was  about  one  hundred  twenty. 

The  spirit  of  rebellion  had  become  traditional, 
and  though  the  young  rebels  might  give  their  new 
president  a  cordial  public  reception,  it  evidently  did 
not  occur  to  them  that  the  new  order  meant  the 
giving  up  of  the  cherished  old  custom  of  firing 
"crackers",  and  the  first  years  of  the  Carnahan 
presidency  were  marked  by  continued  disorders. 
The  first  term  was  only  five  weeks  old  when  the  fire- 
works began.  Christmas  was  coming,  and  the  spirit 
of  mischief  was  abroad  on  the  campus.  Several 
charges  of  powder  were  set  off  in  the  entries  of  Nassau 
Hall.  After  one  of  these  explosions,  a  student  who 
was  caught  in  the  act  of  vociferously  shouting  his 
approval  (or  it  may  have  been  his  disapproval,  as 
he  himself  maintained)  was  summarily  suspended 
without  a  hearing.  Professor  Maclean  disapproved 
of  this  method  of  procedure,  and  President  Carnahan 
agreed  that  the  accused  student  should  have  been 
given  an  opportunity  to  explain.  Unfortunately 
the  mover  of  the  resolution  of  suspension  refused  to 
attend  a  meeting  of  the  faculty  for  reconsideration, 
and  the  decision  had  to  stand.  Thereupon  a  general 
rebellion  broke  out,  and  about  one  third  of  the  under- 
graduates left  college,  most  of  whom,  however,  were 
sent  back  by  their  parents.  Doctor  Carnahan  ex- 
pressed his  conviction  that  the  suspended  student 
was  innocent  and  determined  that  he  would  never 

145 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

again  agree  to  suspend  or  dismiss  a  student  without 
a  hearing.  The  more  liberal  attitude  of  which  this 
was  significant  must  have  been  apparent  to  the 
students,  for  the  rebellion  of  1823  was  the  last 
organized  resistance  to  authority  for  several  years. 
The  test  of  the  new  spirit  among  the  undergradu- 
ates came  the  following  year.  Two  "crackers" 
were  exploded,  one  against  the  door  of  the  prayer 
hall,  the  other  at  the  president's  front  door.  Only 
three  students  were  implicated,  and  their  action  was 
without  the  approval  of  the  undergraduates  as  a 
whole.  Two  of  the  offenders  were  dismissed. 

During  the  next  few  years  sporadic  attempts  were 
made  by  restless  spirits  to  revive  the  custom,  but 
"cracker"  firing  had  sputtered  out.  The  spirit  of 
distrust,  if  not  entirely  dead,  was  dying,  and 
organized  resistance  to  authority  became  impossible 
because  of  the  lack  of  campus  support. 

While  the  policy  of  close  supervision  of  the  lives 
of  the  students  continued  throughout  the  Carnahan 
and  Maclean  administrations,  the  college  laws  were 
tempered  by  the  quality  of  mercy  in  their  enforce- 
ment, for  John  Maclean,  the  disciplinarian  of  both 
administrations,  had  seen  the  light  in  his  service 
under  President  Green,  and  while  adhering  to  the 
view  that  the  college  stood  in  loco  parentis  with  respect 
to  sparing  the  rod  and  spoiling  the  child,  it  was 
notorious  that  his  bark  was  worse  than  his  bite. 

An  echo  of  the  days  of  the  Revolution  rever- 

146 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

berated  through  the  campus  in  September,  1824,  when 
the  college  had  the  honor  of  welcoming  the  gallant 
Marquis  of  Lafayette  on  his  triumphal  tour  of  the 
country.  On  his  way  from  New  York  to  Washing- 
ton, the  Marquis  and  his  son,  George  Washington 
Lafayette,  and  their  escort  under  command  of 
General  John  Heard  of  the  Continental  Army, 
reached  Princeton  in  the  forenoon,  and  the  day  was 
given  over  to  their  entertainment.  The  college 
refectory,  especially  decorated  for  the  occasion,  was 
the  scene  of  an  elaborate  breakfast.  The  Marquis 
was  then  shown  through  the  college  buildings. 
The  battle-scarred  walls  of  Nassau  Hall  revived  old 
memories  of  the  war  for  independence,  and  of  his 
former  visit  in  the  summer  of  1783,  when  Princeton 
was  the  nation's  capital.  The  official  reception 
was  held  in  a  "Temple  of  Science",  which  had  been 
erected  for  the  occasion  on  the  front  campus  —  a 
circular  canopy  embellished  with  classic  white 
columns  and  the  Peale  portrait  of  Washington,  in 
the  elaborate  gilt  frame  which  had  enclosed  the 
portrait  of  King  George  II  before  that  unfortunate 
monarch  lost  his  head  at  the  Battle  of  Princeton. 
Here  an  address  of  welcome  and  congratulation  was 
delivered  by  Senator  Richard  Stockton  of  the  class 
of  1779,  son  of  the  "signer",  and  known  as  "Richard 
the  Duke."  President  Carnahan  presented  to  the 
Marquis  the  diploma  for  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws,  which  had  been  conferred  on  him  in  1790 

147 


THE  STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

in  recognition  of  his  service  to  the  young  republic. 
The  diploma  bore  the  signature  of  John  Witherspoon 
and  had  been  preserved  in  the  college  archives  for 
over  thirty  years,  awaiting  an  opportunity  for  its 
formal  awarding. 

The  financial  affairs  of  the  college  had  been  going 
from  bad  to  worse.  Appeals  for  funds  to  the  State, 
the  Church,  and  the  alumni  having  evoked  no  saving 
response,  the  trustees  themselves  losing  faith,  they 
saw  no  hope  except  in  a  foolish  policy  of  retrench- 
ment. The  enrollment  was  constantly  falling. 
Grasping  at  any  straw,  the  trustees  resolved  to  give 
up  the  Commencement  dinner  for  alumni  and  guests, 
which  for  years  had  been  given  annually  in  the  refec- 
tory. The  poorly  paid  faculty  came  to  the  rescue 
and  assessed  themselves  to  pay  for  the  dinner.  The 
trustees  next  reduced  the  price  of  board  to  two  dollars 
a  week  and  the  tuition  to  twenty  dollars  a  session. 
A  Princeton  education  was  thus  offered  for  ninety- 
six  dollars  for  the  winter  session  and  seventy-seven 
dollars  for  the  summer  session,  and  by  practicing 
economy  a  student  could  keep  his  outlay  down  to 
one  hundred  thirty  dollars  for  the  year.  The 
trustees  also  proposed  a  plan  for  raising  money  by 
imposing  fines  on  students  for  minor  offenses. 

Cheapness  failed  to  attract  new  students.  In 
1827  the  total  enrollment  fell  to  eighty.  The  fol- 
lowing year  the  receipts  were  sixty-one  hundred 
forty-seven  dollars,  the  expenses  sixty-nine  hundred 

148 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

dollars.  "Utterly  at  a  loss  for  any  probable  means" 
of  increasing  the  income,  the  trustees,  though  fear- 
ing the  effect  on  "the  respectability  of  the  institu- 
tion", resolved  on  the  last  desperate  measure  of 
reducing  salaries.  The  president's  salary  was  cut 
to  sixteen  hundred  dollars,  that  of  the  professors  to 
one  thousand  dollars,  the  treasurer's  to  one  hundred 
fifty  dollars  and  the  compensation  of  the  librarian  to 
forty  dollars.  This  saved  eleven  hundred  thirty 
dollars  in  the  annual  budget  and  converted  the 
deficit  to  a  balance  of  four  hundred  forty-two  dollars. 
It  was  a  brilliant  plan  if  it  would  work,  but  unfor- 
tunately it  was  too  perilously  similar  to  the  "beauti- 
ful operation"  in  a  French  hospital : 

Ze  operation  ?  —  yes,  it  was  beautiful. 
Ze  patient  ?  —  oh,  ze  patient  died. 

Two  of  the  three  professors  and  the  treasurer 
resigned. 

This  brought  the  college  to  its  lowest  state.  In 
1829  there  remained  of  the  faculty  only  President 
Carnahan,  Professor  Maclean,  and  two  tutors,  and 
the  enrollment  had  sunk  to  seventy.  The  policy  of 
retrenchment  had  utterly  failed. 

President  Carnahan  was  so  discouraged  that  he 
seriously  considered  closing  the  college.  But  John 
Maclean  did  not  know  how  to  surrender.  It  is  but 
common  justice  to  the  memory  of  this  devoted 
Princetonian  to  record  that  he  preserved  the  spark 

149 


THE   STORY  OF    PRINCETON 

of  life  in  the  tottering  college  and  fanned  it  into  a 
flame,  that  to  him  belongs  the  credit  of  keeping 
Princeton's  history  unbroken  in  those  dark  days. 

With  the  concurrence  of  President  Carnahan,  who 
was  ready  to  accept  any  plan  to  avert  disaster, 
Maclean  set  about  planning  measures  of  reconstruc- 
tion. He  was  convinced  that  cheap  education  would 
not  attract  students  or  meager  salaries  hold  a  respect- 
able faculty.  He  believed  that  a  strong  teaching 
force  would  bring  increased  enrollment,  and  so 
increase  the  fees  on  which  the  college  largely  de- 
pended. He  knew  also  that  it  could  not  continue 
indefinitely  to  depend  on  such  fees,  and  he  formed 
plans  for  increasing  the  endowment. 

At  first  the  execution  of  these  plans  had  to  wait 
upon  the  reestablishment  of  the  reputation  of  the 
college,  for  alumni  and  friends  would  not  contribute 
to  a  project  in  which  they  had  lost  faith.  The 
heroic  task  therefore  confronted  Maclean  of 
strengthening  the  faculty  on  the  present  income. 
Maclean  generously  gave  up  the  chair  of  mathe- 
matics in  order  that  Professor  Vethake  might  be  re- 
called from  Dickinson,  whence  he  had  gone  nine 
years  before.  He  now  consented  to  return  as  pro- 
fessor of  natural  philosophy.  Albert  B.  Dod,  a. 
brilliant  young  scholar,  who  before  his  early  death 
in  1844  was  to  become  one  of  the  chief  ornaments  of 
Carnahan's  faculty,  was  appointed  professor  of 
mathematics,  and  Professor  Maclean  was  transferred 

150 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

to  the  chair  of  ancient  languages.  To  save  expense, 
Professor  Vethake  was  given  a  year's  leave  of  ab- 
sence, Maclean  and  Dod  adding  his  work  to  their 
already  heavy  schedules.  Maclean  was  also  elected 
vice-president,  probably  at  the  suggestion  of  Doctor 
Carnahan. 

Doctor  John  Torrey,  the  eminent  chemist,  and 
Louis  Hargous,  a  teacher  of  modern  languages,  were 
appointed  to  give  courses  in  their  respective  subjects 
during  the  summer  term,  two  chairs  being  thus  filled 
on  one  professor's  salary.  Under  the  versatile 
Maclean's  plans,  these  important  additions  to  the 
faculty  were  accomplished  on  the  existing  income. 

New  life  had  been  injected  into  the  college.  The 
next  year  there  were  sixty-seven  new  students 
admitted.  The  enrollment  continued  to  grow  until 
the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  when  it  numbered 
over  three  hundred,  or  more  than  four  times  as 
many  as  when  Maclean's  plan  of  reconstruction 
was  adopted. 

The  first  year  after  its  adoption,  the  trustees  were 
in  such  a  cheerful  mood  that  they  raised  the  salaries 
of  the  president,  vice-president,  and  Professor  Dod 
each  by  two  hundred  dollars ;  and  the  spirit  of 
progress  being  in  the  air,  Doctor  Maclean  reports 
that  "the  President  was  requested  to  inquire  .  .  . 
how  far  it  may  comport  with  economy  and  the  safety 
of  the  College  to  substitute  coal  for  wood  in  the  rooms 
of  the  students." 

151 


THE   STORY   OF  PRINCETON 

Maclean  had  larger  plans.  With  confidence  re- 
stored, a  committee  of  the  board  was  appointed  to 
solicit  funds.  Thirteen  thousand  three  hundred 
fifty  dollars  was  raised  from  alumni  and  friends. 
Two  large  tracts  of  land  in  Pennsylvania  presented 
to  the  college  by  Elias  Boudinot,  which  for  many 
years  had  been  neglected,  were  now  turned  to 
advantage.  Four  thousand  dollars  was  due  on  one 
tract,  which  had  been  sold.  Plans  were  made  for 
disposing  of  the  other  tract  of  four  thousand  acres. 
The  faculty  was  again  enlarged,  and  in  1830  it 
included,  in  addition  to  the  president  and  vice- 
president,  five  professors,  one  adjunct  professor,  and 
two  tutors. 

In  1826  Maclean  had  founded  the  Alumni  Associa- 
tion of  Nassau  Hall.  This  parent  association  of 
Princeton's  numerous  alumni  organizations  was 
born  under  distinguished  auspices,  its  first  president 
having  been  the  venerable  James  Madison  of  the 
class  of  1771.  One  of  Princeton's  two  vice-presi- 
dents of  the  United  States,  George  M.  Dallas  of  the 
class  of  1810,  assisted  in  drawing  the  constitution 
of  the  association,  and  John  Maclean  was  its  first 
secretary.  Whig  and  Clio  Halls  cooperated  by  ap- 
pointing alternately  one  of  their  eminent  graduates 
to  deliver  an  alumni  address  at  Commencement, 
which  continued  a  popular  feature  for  thirty  years. 
It  is  especially  interesting  to  recall  that  President 
Madison,  the  first  president  of  the  first  alumni 

152 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

association,  remembered  his  Alma  Mater  in  his  will, 
by  bequeathing  one  thousand  dollars  for  the  pur- 
chase of  books  for  the  college  library. 

Maclean  now  seized  upon  the  alumni  association 
as  an  instrumentality  to  increase  the  funds  of  the 
college.  With  the  enrollment  growing,  new  accom- 
modations were  needed  for  students.  The  associa- 
tion met  the  need.  East  and  West  Colleges  were 
built,  each  at  a  cost  of  between  thirteen  and  four- 
teen thousand  dollars.  During  the  next  few  years 
the  alumni  association  contributed  to  the  college 
a  fund  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  a  big  gift  for  those 
days. 

Of  the  coming  to  Princeton  in  1832  of  the  man  who 
was  its  most  noted  teacher  in  the  period  before  the 
Civil  War,  the  minutes  of  the  board  of  trustees 
record  merely  that  Joseph  Henry  was  chosen  pro- 
fessor of  natural  philosophy,  and  that  his  salary  was 
fixed  at  one  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Henry  was 
at  the  time  a  teacher  in  the  Albany  Academy,  where 
he  had  begun  the  scientific  experiments  which  were 
to  prove  of  such  vital  importance  in  the  invention 
of  the  telegraph.  Maclean,  always  on  the  alert 
for  promising  teachers,  had  heard  of  Henry,  and  his 
favorable  impressions  were  confirmed  by  interviews 
with  Professor  Torrey  at  Princeton  and  correspond- 
ence with  Professor  Silliman  of  Yale  and  other 
leading  teachers  of  science.  Maclean  had  this  am- 
munition ready  when  the  trustees  met  to  elect  a  suc- 

153 


THE   STORY   OF   PRINCETON 

cessor  to  Professor  Vethake.  The  trustees  had  no 
one  to  suggest.  Maclean  slyly  remarks  that  one  of 
them,  "a  gentleman  then  beginning  to  attract 
considerable  attention  as  an  eloquent  preacher", 
when  informed  that  the  faculty  had  Mr.  Henry  in 
mind  for  the  place,  asked  in  surprise,  "Who  is 
Henry?"  and  added,  "That  will  never  do."  At 
this  psychological  moment,  Maclean  fired  his  heaviest 
guns.  He  presented  to  the  board  the  letters  of 
Silliman,  Torrey,  and  others,  and  the  trustees  capit- 
ulated without  a  murmur.  Henry  was  unanimously 
elected.  Writing  in  1877,  Maclean  asks:  "Where 
is  the  man  to  be  found  among  the  friends  of  the 
College,  or  the  friends  of  science,  at  home  or  abroad, 
that  would  now  venture  to  ask  the  question,  'Who 
is  Henry?'" 

Thus  began  Joseph  Henry's  association  with 
Princeton,  which  as  professor,  professor  emeritus, 
lecturer,  and  trustee,  ended  only  with  his  death 
nearly  half  a  century  later. 

Professor  Henry  was  not  only  a  physicist.  In 
addition  to  his  classes  in  natural  philosophy,  he 
delighted  the  students  with  his  lectures  on  civil 
engineering  and  architecture,  and  his  plan  of  the 
architectural  development  of  the  back  campus  was 
adopted  by  the  board  of  trustees.  His  coming  also 
attracted  to  Princeton  another  eminent  member  of 
the  nineteenth  century  faculty,  his  cousin  and  brother- 
in-law,  Stephen  Alexander,  who  as  professor  of  as- 

154 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

tronomy  for  thirty-seven  years  was  greatly  admired 
by  the  students. 

The  Henry  collection  of  apparatus  preserved  in 
Princeton  is  a  constant  reminder  of  the  priority  of 
Professor  Henry  as  the  inventor  of  the  electrical 
telegraph  and  of  his  anticipation  by  more  than  half 
a  century  of  the  development  of  wireless  telegraphy. 
As  early  as  1838,  Professor  Henry  demonstrated 
the  possibility  of  transmitting  electric  waves  over  a 
considerable  distance.  The  first  demonstration  of 
wireless  took  place  on  the  Princeton  campus,  with 
Nassau  Hall  between  the  sending  and  receiving  end. 
Physicists,  at  least,  recognize  also  that  the  Henry  mag- 
netic relay  is  the  one  thing  that  made  the  telegraph  a 
success.  In  a  letter  he  wrote  to  Professor  S.  B.  Dod 
in  1876  Professor  Henry  said:  "I  think  the  first 
actual  line  of  telegraph  using  the  earth  as  a  con- 
ductor was  made  in  the  beginning  of  1836.  A  wire 
was  extended  across  the  front  campus  of  the  College 
grounds  from  the  upper  story  of  the  library  building 
to  the  Philosophical  Hall  on  the  opposite  side,  the 
ends  terminating  in  two  wells.  Through  this  wire 
signals  were  sent  from  time  to  time  from  my  house 
to  my  laboratory." 

The  operator  at  the  other  end  of  the  line  was 
usually  Professor  Henry's  wife,  and  the  ready  ex- 
change of  messages  between  the  two  seemed  to  un- 
dergraduates of  those  days  little  short  of  miraculous. 

In  recent  years  Princeton  has  honored  the  memory 

155 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

of  Professor  Henry  by  placing  his  statue  on  one  side 
of  the  entrance  of  the  great  Palmer  Physical  Labora- 
tory, with  that  of  Benjamin  Franklin  on  the  other 
side. 

Four  years  after  the  coming  of  Professor  Henry, 
the  attention  of  the  college  was  centered  on  another 
conspicuous  figure  in  American  history,  a  figure 
of  a  far  different  type.  In  1836  occurred  the  death 
of  Colonel  Aaron  Burr,  around  whose  name  so 
many  grotesque  legends  cluster.  The  only  son  of 
President  Burr  and  the  grandson,  through  his 
mother,  of  President  Jonathan  Edwards,  Colonel 
Burr  was  born  at  Newark  a  few  months  before  the 
removal  of  the  college  to  Princeton ;  he  had  spent 
his  earliest  years  in  the  shadow  of  the  college  and 
had  been  graduated  at  sixteen.  A  brilliant  but 
rebellious  student,  he  had  won  honors  in  English 
and  the  classics  and  had  delivered  the  Commence- 
ment oration  on  the  curiously  prophetic  theme  of 
"Castle  Building."  A  member  of  the  class  of  1772, 
he  was  one  of  that  brilliant  group  of  Witherspoon's 
students  who  were  to  become  so  conspicuous  in  the 
Revolution  and  in  the  subsequent  history  of  the 
republic.  A  volunteer  in  the  Canadian  campaign 
of  1775-1776,  with  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution 
he  threw  himself  into  the  struggle  for  independence 
with  generous  ardor.  His  brilliant  talents,  his 
personal  magnetism,  and  his  impetuous  courage 
won  for  him  rapid  promotion,  and  he  established 

156 


a  reputation  not  only  for  bravery  but  for  great 
efficiency  in  commanding  troops.  Not  less  note- 
worthy was  his  rise  in  public  life  after  the  war. 
Through  his  magnetic  leadership,  he  built  up  an 
organization  in  New  York  City  known  as  Burr's 
Myrmidons,  the  prototype  of  the  personal  organiza- 
tion which  has  had  so  great  an  influence  in  American 
politics.  His  talents,  his  energy,  his  enthusiasm, 
his  determination,  his  great  ability  were  inevitably 
crowned  with  marked  success  in  the  twin  fields  of 
law  and  politics.  Through  various  offices  he  rose 
to  the  United  States  senatorship  from  New  York 
and  finally  to  the  vice-presidency.  Tied  with 
Jefferson  for  the  presidency,  his  biographer  makes 
it  plain  that  the  breaking  of  that  tie  in  Congress 
certainly  did  not  reflect  discredit  upon  the  loser. 
It  was  a  period  of  give  and  take,  of  hard  knocks  in 
politics,  in  which  Burr  was  not  more  blameworthy 
than  many  of  his  more  fortunate  contemporaries ; 
and  if  in  this  great  crisis  of  his  career  he  had  been 
willing  to  profit  by  the  use  of  "practical  politics", 
his  name  might  have  been  handed  down  as  that  of 
the  third  President  of  the  United  States. 

Then  came  the  duel  with  Hamilton  and  the 
mysterious  expedition  to  the  Southwest,  through 
which  Burr  lost  public  favor  and  incurred  such 
universal  condemnation  that  even  yet  history  re- 
fuses to  do  his  name  the  justice  to  which  it  is  en- 
titled. Though  Princeton  gave  her  first  Vice- 

157 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

President  of  the  United  States  the  honorary  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws,  in  the  light  of  his  career  she 
cannot  point  with  unqualified  pride  to  this  erring 
son.  It  is,  however,  but  just  to  mention  here  that 
Aaron  Burr  was  far  from  being  as  black  as  he  has 
been  painted. 

After  his  fall  from  public  favor  he  was  doomed 
to  drag  out  nearly  one  third  of  a  century,  deserted 
and  dishonored.  The  loss  at  sea  of  his  beautiful 
daughter  Theodosia,  the  idol  of  his  heart,  added 
poignant  personal  sorrow  to  a  life  already  desolate ; 
yet  through  it  all  he  preserved  an  uncomplaining 
dignity,  a  filial  love  for  his  honored  ancestors,  and 
a  pathetic  affection  for  the  college  that  had  known 
and  recognized  the  promise  of  his  impetuous  youth. 
In  his  old  age  he  was  accustomed  to  make  periodic 
visits  to  Princeton.  The  late  Parke  Godwin  of  the 
class  of  1835  was  wont  to  tell  how  when  a  student 
at  Princeton  he  had  seen  Colonel  Burr,  then  in  his 
eightieth  year,  pass  with  tottering  steps  through 
the  village  to  the  old  cemetery  on  Witherspoon 
Street,  to  pay  homage  at  the  graves  of  his  eminent 
father  and  grandfather.  To  the  few  loyal  friends 
of  his  old  age  he  confided  the  request  that  he  should 
be  buried  at  his  father's  feet,  and  the  following  year 
this  touching  request  was  honored.  The  venerable 
figure  of  Colonel  Burr  could  not  have  been  unknown 
to  many  undergraduates  of  the  period,  for  at  the 
request  of  the  Cliosophic  Society,  of  which  he  was 

158 


' 


• 

$fil- 

M) 


;. 


Presidents'  Row.    Stone  Marking  the  Gnive  of  Colonel  Aaron 

Burr 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

a  member,  he  had  presided  at  its  Commencement 
meeting  a  short  time  before  his  death.  The  students 
attended  his  funeral  in  the  college  chapel,  at  which 
President  Carnahan  delivered  the  sermon,  and  his 
body  lay  in  state  in  Nassau  Hall.  The  Mercer 
Guards,  a  delegation  of  the  Cliosophic  Society,  the 
faculty  and  students  of  the  college  as  well  as  the 
theological  seminary,  and  the  citizens  formed  an 
escort  to  the  cemetery,  where  he  was  buried  with 
military  honors,  which  recalled  his  gallant  service 
in  the  cause  of  independence,  for  which  at  least 
Colonel  Burr  should  be  held  in  grateful  memory. 

These  are  the  plain  facts  of  Colonel  Burr's  burial 
at  Princeton,  facts  easily  verified  by  the  authentic 
records.  It  is  the  more  remarkable  therefore  that 
stories  should  have  become  current  in  the  news- 
papers that  his  burial  was  secret,  and  that  the 
modest  stone  which  marks  his  grave  was  mysteri- 
ously smuggled  into  Princeton  and  set  up  by 
night.  It  is  one  of  many  false  legends  which  have 
been  manufactured  to  taint  the  memory  of  a  char- 
acter already  sufficiently  dishonored ;  nor  is  there 
any  truth  in  that  even  more  despicable  legend  which 
associates  Colonel  Burr  with  an  estimable  young 
lady,  whose  grave  on  the  grounds  of  "Prospect" 
for  so  many  years  excited  morbid  curiosity.  The 
explanation  of  the  location  of  the  grave  is  very 
simple.  The  young  lady's  death  occurred  while 
she  was  visiting  at  "Prospect",  then  a  private 

159 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

residence,  and  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  travel 
(she  lived  in  Philadelphia),  she  was  interred  in  the 
private  burial  ground  at  "Prospect."  In  the  course 
of  time,  the  other  stones  marking  graves  in  this 
burial  ground  disappeared,  and  so  it  happened  that 
in  after  years  this  grave  remained  the  only  one  with 
a  stone  to  show  its  location. 

Graduates  of  the  period  testify  that  it  was  a 
Spartan  life  the  students  led  in  ante-bellum  days, 
and  to  a  generation  accustomed  to  many  and  diverse 
campus  activities,  those  days  may  indeed  seem  drab. 
There  was  of  course  no  organized  athletics,  and  in 
consequence  the  animal  spirits  of  the  eternal  boy 
were  vented  in  pranks  that  to  a  more  sophisticated 
age  seem  puerile.  To  worry  the  tutors  cannon 
balls  were  rumbled  through  the  college  corridors, 
and  the  professors,  however  popular,  were  pestered 
by  night  by  the  daubing  of  paint  on  their  residences. 
Professor  Gildersleeve  recalls  that  Professor  Hope's 
house  was  decorated  with  the  legend  "Mixed 
Metaphor",  a  literary  crime  against  which  he 
was  wont  to  warn  his  students.  Many  a  "fresh 
fire"  illuminated  the  midnight  heavens,  built  from 
gates  and  window  blinds  filched  from  the  homes  of 
slumbering  residents.  Dissatisfaction  with  refec- 
tory fare  was  expressed  by  smashing  the  crockery. 
The  increase  of  "incidentals"  in  students'  bills 
brought  periodic  protests  in  the  form  of  stones 
hurled  through  the  chapel  window.  There  were 

160 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

"orgies"  in  college  rooms,  despite  the  vigilance 
of  "Johnny"  Maclean,  which  withal  were  doubtless 
innocent  enough,  unless  the  digestive  apparatus  of 
the  ante-bellum  youth  was  unlike  that  of  a  more 
modern  age,  which  is  equal  to  anything. 

But  the  animal  spirits  of  those  days  were  not  all 
wasted  in  mischievous  pranks.  To  the  students  of 
the  thirties  Princeton  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  for 
the  restoration  of  one  of  its  most  valued  relics. 
Even  at  that  early  period  there  was  the  beginning 
of  college  spirit,  and  it  was  demonstrated  in  the 
incident  which  has  come  down  as  the  "Rape  of  the 
Cannon." 

The  Big  Cannon,  around  which  Class  Day  exer- 
cises are  now  held,  was  one  of  three  guns  which 
had  been  abandoned  at  Princeton  during  the  Revo- 
lution. For  many  years  it  had  reposed  on  the 
campus,  where  the  library  now  stands.  It  had 
been  loaned  to  the  city  of  New  Brunswick  during 
the  War  of  1812,  but  had  not  been  returned.  This 
led  to  the  "Cannon  War"  between  Princeton  and 
Rutgers,  in  which  peace  was  not  restored  for  nearly 
three  quarters  of  a  century. 

This  cannon  lay  neglected  on  the  village  common 
at  New  Brunswick  until  the  martial  spirit  of  Prince- 
ton was  aroused  by  the  approaching  celebration  of 
Independence  Day  in  1836.  The  Princeton  Blues, 
a  military  organization  of  the  village,  resolved 
upon  reprisal.  The  night  before  July  4  of  that 

161 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

year,  the  village  soldiers  stole  over  to  New  Bruns- 
wick, mounted  the  old  gun  on  a  wagon,  and  made 
off  with  it.  At  "Jugtown"  the  wagon  broke  down, 
and  there  the  cannon  was  left  for  two  years.  Then 
the  students  resolved  to  finish  the  rescue,  and  one 
dark  night  they  sallied  forth 'and  dragged  the  old 
gun  to  the  front  campus.  Two  years  later  it  was 
planted,  muzzle  down,  in  the  center  of  the  quad- 
rangle, where  it  has  since  remained  as  the  Great 
Totem  of  the  clan  of  Princeton,  which  generation 
after  generation  of  undergraduates  have  heated 
red  hot  in  celebration  of  athletic  victories,  and  on 
which  year  after  year  graduating  classes  have 
broken  their  long-stemmed  pipes  as  a  symbol  of 
the  breaking  of  the  ties  of  undergraduate  life. 

Not  less  eventful  is  the  history  of  the  Little 
Cannon.  The  ravages  of  time  have  now  almost 
obliterated  two  dates  which  formerly  were  plain 
enough  upon  its  breech — 1776  and  1859.  The 
former  date  recalls  of  course  the  old  gun's  service 
in  the  American  Revolution ;  the  latter  commemo- 
rates another  unpleasantness,  a  fiercely  waged  town 
and  gown  fight  for  the  possession  of  the  relic.  Some 
time  after  the  Battle  of  Princeton,  this  cannon  was 
mounted  in  front  of  Nassau  Hall,  where  it  adorned 
the  campus  for  many  years.  At  the  old-time  Fourth 
of  July  celebrations  and  other  occasions  of  jolli- 
fication, it  awoke  the  resounding  echoes  of  the 
college  and  town.  After  the  date  of  Commence- 

162 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

ment  was  changed,  and  the  students  were  in  con- 
sequence at  home  on  Independence  Day,  the  cannon 
gradually  lost  its  high  position.  Finally,  in  the 
summer  vacation  of  1858,  the  owner  of  the  prop- 
erty where  the  First  National  Bank  now  stands 
obtained  permission  from  the  college  authorities  to 
place  the  neglected  gun  on  his  corner  to  protect 
a  new  pavement  from  the  shock  of  passing  wagons. 
In  the  autumn  the  students  returned  to  find  their 
cherished  relic  degraded  to  this  ignoble  service. 
Great  indignation  was  manifested  at  what  seemed 
to  them  an  insult  to  an  old  patriot,  and  the  class 
of  '59,  then  seniors,  resolved  upon  reprisal.  About 
ten  o'clock  one  rainy  night,  the  whole  senior  class 
sallied  forth,  armed  with  pickaxes  and  shovels, 
for  the  rescue  of  the  cannon.  After  an  hour's 
hard  work  at  digging  and  shoveling,  the  trophy 
was  at  length  raised  and  securely  strapped  under 
the  hind  wheels  of  a  heavy  wagon,  which  had  been 
surreptitiously  borrowed  for  the  occasion  from  the 
village  livery  stable.  The  willing  workers  grasped 
the  ropes  and  soon  had  the  old  gun  reposing  on  the 
college  greensward.  Another  hour's  hard  work  with 
pick  and  shovel,  and  it  was  firmly  planted  in  the 
back  campus  between  Whig  and  Clio  Halls.  The 
rescue  had  been  so  quietly  accomplished  that 
neither  the  college  authorities  nor  the  citizens  of 
the  town  were  aware  of  what  was  going  on.  For 
once  even  the  proverbial  vigilance  of  "Johnny" 

163 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Maclean  had  been  outwitted.  But  when  the  deed 
was  done,  frantic  cheers  bore  evidence  of  the  pa- 
triotic prowess  of  the  rescuers  as  they  speedily  fled 
to  their  rooms. 

Great  was  the  surprise  of  the  village  next  day, 
and  loud  and  terrible  were  the  threats  of  vengeance. 
The  local  military  company  was  on  the  point  of 
marching  to  the  campus  to  recapture  the  cannon 
when  the  borough  mayor  intervened  and  overawed 
the  soldier  spirit.  But  the  battle  was  not  over. 
Town  and  gown  fights  were  characteristic  of  the 
period,  and  here  was  a  real  casus  belli.  Warlike 
preparations  in  the  village  finally  culminated  in  a 
furious  attack  one  night  about  twelve  o'clock,  when 
the  town  bully,  under  the  inspiration  of  a  pint  of 
high-potential  "Jersey  lightning",  led  his  followers 
in  an  invasion  of  the  campus,  with  the  intention  of 
capturing  the  old  gun.  But  the  campus  was  not 
to  be  taken  unaware.  The  alarm  was  sounded,  and 
the  students  rushed  to  the  fray  as  one  man,  per- 
suaded that  the  time  had  come  to  sell  their  lives 
dearly  in  repelling  the  invasion.  A  double-barreled 
duck  gun  that  ornamented  a  room  on  the  third  floor 
of  East  College  was  speedily  pressed  into  service 
and  bellowed  its  defiance.  An  impetuous  freshman 
rushed  to  the  fray  with  a  Damascus  scimitar  which 
adorned  his  wall  in  time  of  peace.  He  was  with 
difficulty  restrained  from  thrusting  the  town  bully 
through  and  through.  The  latter  was  surrounded 

164 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

and  captured  and  escorted  off  the  campus  by  a 
threatening  group  of  students.  Seeing  their  leader 
repulsed,  the  invading  band  quickly  dispersed.  But 
threats  of  vengeance  were  still  in  the  air,  and  the 
old  gun  was  guarded  with  unabated  vigilance.  Each 
night  the  campus  was  like  an  armed  camp,  until 
finally  the  martial  spirit  subsided. 

The  incident  is  specially  interesting  as  showing 
that  college  spirit  is  by  no  means  a  modern  inven- 
tion. Intercollegiate  rivalries  —  wholesome  and  less 
bitter  —  have  come  to  foster  the  spirit  which  was  in 
those  days  stimulated  by  such  fights.  These  un- 
neighborly  encounters  have  fortunately  long  since 
ceased,  and  town  and  gown  live  peacefully  side  by 
side  in  mutual  respect  and  helpfulness.  Especially 
in  its  athletic  contests  the  university  has  no  more 
loyal  supporters  than  the  citizens  of  Princeton. 

It  was  about  the  Little  Cannon  that  the  final 
battle  of  the  "Cannon  War"  raged.  Believing  it 
to  be  the  gun  which  had  been  carried  off  from  New 
Brunswick  in  1836,  a  band  of  Rutgers  students 
invaded  Princeton  one  night  in  April,  1875,  dug  up 
the  cannon,  and  took  it  with  them  to  New  Bruns- 
wick. The  Princeton  students  in  turn  invaded  the 
Rutgers  campus  in  search  of  their  Revolutionary 
relic.  Unable  to  find  it,  they  vented  their  wrath 
by  destroying  college  property.  The  battle  reached 
such  a  heroic  stage  that  the  college  faculties  were 
constrained  to  act.  A  joint  committee  of  the 

165 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Princeton  and  Rutgers  faculties  sat  on  the  case  and 
heard  the  evidence,  with  the  result  that  the  Little 
Cannon  was  finally  restored  to  the  Princeton  students 
and  replanted  between  the  Halls,  where  it  still 
remains.  The  grading  of  the  campus  has  left  only 
a  few  inches  of  the  breech  visible  above  the  surface. 
A  quaint  picture  of  the  college  in  ante-bellum  days 
comes  down  in  an  old  letter  written  by  an  under- 
graduate, Joseph  Jackson  Halsey,  '42,  to  his  father. 
The  letter  is  especially  interesting  because  it  gives 
a  glimpse  of  the  fashions  of  the  time.  Writing 
from  "Nassau  Hall,  Deer.  24th  1840",  Halsey,  then 
a  junior,  gives  his  father  these  hints  : 

I  have  never  before  been  so  circumstanced  as  to  feel 
the  oppressive  need  of  a  pair  of  slippers.  Being  confined 
as  we  necessarily  are,  to  a  warm  room  during  the  greater 
portion  of  the  day  and  all  the  evening,  tight  boots  be- 
come cumbersome  &  uncomfortable  to  us,  beside  the 
unpleasantness  &  inconvenience  otherwise  experienced 
from  them.  ...  In  regard  to  a  loose  gown,  I  observe 
they  are  very  fashionable  here,  made  like  overcoats  with 
plain  rolling  collars,  much  like  the  "OLD  fashioned  open 
vest  collars",  &  wadded  skirts.  The  students  wear  them 
to  Prayers,  recitation,  &  about  college.  They  extend 
about  half  way  between  the  knee  &  foot,  in  length,  are 
made  of  fancy  calicoes,  to  suit  the  taste.  They  are  pro- 
vided with  two  pockets  situate  a  little  farther  forward 
than  the  pockets  of  a  wrapper  or  "Box  Coat."  They 
are  not  usually  buttoned  up  in  front,  but  furnished  with 
a  girdle  at  the  waist,  &  a  simple  hook  and  eye  at  the  neck, 
which  last,  is  however,  sometimes  omitted.  ...  I 

166 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

would  prefer  large  figured  calico,  not  striped  nor  red, 
although  oddity  in  any  other  respect  may  be  tolerated. 
I  should  like  it  about  2  inches  larger  round  than  the  thin 
"frock  coat"  made  for  me  last  Summer,  which  will  serve 
as  a  guide  to  cut  by  in  all  other  respects  except  length  of 
skirt.  I  have  been  thus  minute  in  describing  this  garment, 
in  order  that  you  may  from  it  form  some  idea  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  our  gentry  in  college  life.  I  forgot  to  men- 
tion the  skirt  is  not  cleft  behind  like  that  of  an  overcoat, 
but  left  whole.  It  is  usually  lined  with  calico  of  a  differ- 
ent figure,  however  this  is  unimportant.  I  mentioned 
just  now  that  the  skirts  were  wadded,  they  are  properly 
speaking  wadded  throughout,  though  perhaps  the  skirt 
is  made  a  shade  thicker  than  the  rest. 

The  modern  undergraduate  gets  along  very  well 
with  a  bathrobe  as  a  successor  to  this  elegant  gar- 
ment. 

The  dressing  gown  which  Mr.  Halsey  describes 
so  minutely  was  worn  generally  by  the  students, 
not  only  in  his  time,  but  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  and  the  first  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  served  as  a  cloak  for  other  defects  of  dress ;  the 
students  wore  these  gowns  on  every  occasion  —  at 
their  recitations,  at  chapel,  on  the  street,  and  on 
the  campus.  The  bright  colors  gave  a  variegated 
appearance  to  the  groups  of  undergraduates,  such 
as  those  who  gathered  at  "Lazy  Corner",  a  favorite 
loafing  place  at  the  western  entrance  to  the  campus, 
where  the  college  fence  served  the  same  purpose  as 
the  more  recent  benches  on  Nassau  Street,  lately 

167 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

interdicted.  When  the  weather  became  too  cold 
for  these  dressing  gowns,  Spanish  cloaks  were  sub- 
stituted, a  more  dignified  garment  which  the  faculty 
did  not  scorn  to  wear.  The  picture  of  Doctor 
Maclean  is  not  complete  without  his  great  cloak, 
which  on  the  numerous  occasions  of  his  pursuit  of 
errant  students  was  wont  to  flap  from  his  shoulders 
and  tug  at  the  shining  brass  clasps  that  anchored  it 
to  his  neck.  The  tight  boots  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Halsey  were  also  in  general  use.  They  were  of 
different  colors  to  indicate  the  classes,  and  the 
trousers  were  tucked  into  their  capacious  tops. 
Peg-top  trousers  and  gaiters  were  also  sometimes 
worn,  and  there  were  flowing  neck  scarfs,  brilliant 
waistcoats,  green  and  brown  frock  coats  with  velvet 
collars  and  tight  sleeves,  and  high  hats  for  dress 
occasions.  Ordinarily,  however,  the  students  wore 
caps  of  various  slouchy  designs. 

The  late  Charles  Godfrey  Leland,  '45,  complained 
that  in  his  time  altogether  too  much  emphasis  was 
laid  on  mathematics  and  theology.  Joseph  Jackson 
Halsey  bears  out  Leland's  complaint,  at  least  in 
part.  Halsey  writes  :  "Very  many 'fizzle'  .  .  .espe- 
cially in  mathematics.  This  is  the  most  important 
branch  of  the  whole  year  and  it  counts  as  much  as 
all  the  other  studies  together  in  reckoning  the 
grades."  Of  the  versatile  professor  of  mathematics, 
Albert  B.  Dod,  he  says:  "I  wish  you  could  hear 
Prof.  Dodd  preach  once.  He  is  a  singular  per- 

168 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

sonage.  His  manners  are  peculiar  to  himself. 
Rather  under  size,  middle  age  yet  withered  in  ap- 
pearance, with  his  camlet  coat  like  the  one  Grandpa 
used  to  wear  but  which  has  descended  to  the  last 
of  the  'Cesars',  the  waist  about  four  inches  under 
his  arm,  his  head  bent  forward  &  looking  down,  with 
a  very  careless  step,  you  would  think  him  the  last 
man  that  could  lay  claim  to  first  place  among  the 
mathematicians  of  the  United  States." 

Of  President  Carnahan,  to  whom  Halsey  recited 
in  "Evidence  of  Christianity",  he  says:  "The 
old  Doctor  is  grave  &  venerable  in  appearance, 
and  accords  more  nearly  with  my  views  of  a 
practical,  common  sense,  man  than  any  other  of 
the  faculty.  'Tis  true  there  are  objections  to  him. 
He  is  never  seen  except  at  recitation,  at  evening 
prayers,  or  on  the  Sabbath  except  occasionally  in 
the  street,  &  never  visits  the  students,  even  if  very 
sick." 

And  of  Vice-President  Maclean:  "But  we  are 
not  without  our  'Howard'  .  .  .  Old  Johnny  as  he 
is  sneeringly  called  is  one  of  the  most  benevolent 
men  living.  He  is  always  the  first  in  the  sick  bed- 
room, &  care  is  taken  that  everything  is  comfortably 
arranged  for  the  best  accommodation  of  the  sick, 
&  he  even  furnishes  them  delicacies  from  his  own 
table,  while  his  personal  attention  &  affable  manners, 
have  a  tendency  to  raise  him  high  in  the  affections 
of  the  patients.  But  the  faculty  generally  are  con- 

169 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

sequential  &  aristocratic  in  their  manners,  although 
most  of  them  are  ministers  of  the  gospel." 

It  was  in  1844  that  the  annual  Commencement 
was  changed  from  the  fall  to  the  spring.  The  last 
Wednesday  in  September  had  been  Commencement 
Day.  After  a  vacation  of  six  weeks,  the  college 
year  began  with  the  winter  term,  which  continued 
till  April,  when  there  was  a  five  weeks'  vacation, 
and  then  the  summer  session  terminated  at  Com- 
mencement. Under  the  new  plan,  the  vacations 
were  shifted  to  six  weeks  in  the  summer  and  a  like 
respite  in  the  winter.  One  of  the  reasons  for  chang- 
ing the  date  was  the  disorder  that  had  characterized 
Commencement.  Coming  in  the  autumn,  when  the 
harvesting  was  finished,  Commencement  became  a 
sort  of  public  holiday  to  which  the  inhabitants 
flocked  from  miles  around.  These  rural  visitors, 
having  very  little  interest  in  the  college  exercises, 
turned  the  occasion  into  a  sort  of  country  fair  in 
its  worst  phases.  Nassau  Street  was  lined  with 
booths  and  vehicles,  from  which  were  dispensed 
refreshments  and  liquor,  while  Stockton  Street  was 
made  to  serve  the  purposes  of  a  race  track,  where 
the  rural  gentry  whooped  and  bellowed  and  guffawed 
as  their  horses  showed  their  speed.  On  more  than 
one  occasion  the  din  almost  broke  up  the  Com- 
mencement exercises  in  the  old  First  Church. 
These  disturbances  go  back  to  the  early  history 
of  the  college.  The  dispensers  of  refreshments 

170 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

and  liquors  had  so  encroached  upon  the  campus 
that  in  1807  the  trustees  adopted  a  resolution  for- 
bidding the  erection  of  any  booth  or  placing  any 
wagon  "  for  selling  liquor  or  other  refreshment"  on 
the  ground  of  the  college,  except  eastward  of  the 
middle  gate  of  the  front  campus.  Doctor  Maclean 
characterized  the  Commencement  of  the  period  as 
"a  kind  of  saturnalia"  in  which  everybody  felt  at 
liberty  to  take  part  in  any  amusement  or  enterprise 
he  thought  fit.  "Eating  and  drinking,  fiddling 
and  dancing,  playing  for  pennies,  and  testing  the 
speed  of  their  horses,  were  the  amusements  in 
which  no  small  numbers  of  those  assembled  on 
such  occasions  were  wont  to  indulge."  As  a  boy 
Doctor  Maclean  had  witnessed  a  bull-baiting  on 
the  college  grounds  while  the  exercises  were  going 
on  in  the  church. 

The  resolution  restricting  the  selling  of  liquor 
and  refreshments  on  the  campus  evidently  did  not 
accomplish  much,  and  another  effort  was  made  to 
check  the  disturbances  by  the  incorporation  of  the 
borough  in  1813.  But  it  was  not  until  Doctor 
Maclean's  plan  of  changing  the  date  of  Commence- 
ment was  put  into  effect  in  1844  that  the  ending  of 
the  college  year  assumed  a  more  dignified  character. 

The  prayer  hall  in  Nassau  Hall  having  been  out- 
grown, in  1847  a  new  chapel  was  erected  —  the 
building  known  to  later  generations  as  the  "Old 
Chapel."  The  former  prayer  hall  was  converted 

171 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

into  a  portrait  gallery,  and  after  the  rebuilding  of 
Nassau  Hall  in  1855,  it  became  the  library  of  the 
college.  Subsequently  it  was  used  as  a  museum 
until  its  restoration  in  1906  as  the  faculty  room. 
The  plan  of  the  Old  Chapel  was  the  cause  of  a 
contest  between  President  Carnahan  and  some  of 
the  trustees,  which  illustrates  the  grave  significance 
then  attached  to  symbolism.  The  cruciform  archi- 
tecture of  the  building  was  criticised  on  the  ground 
that  such  a  design  was  associated  with  the  Catholic 
Church  and  therefore  was  not  appropriate  for  a 
Protestant  college.  The  objectors  feared  that  it 
would  "remain  an  unanswerable  argument  against 
Presbyterian  objections  to  Popish  symbolism."  But 
Doctor  Carnahan  was  firm  and  resisted  the  efforts 
to  change  the  architect's  plans.  In  view  of  its 
early  history,  the  Old  Chapel  was  a  singularly  fit- 
ting place  for  those  famous  elocutionary  exercises 
of  later  years,  in  which  future  orators  vociferously 
asserted  that  "the  war  must  go  on",  and  for  those 
riotous  scenes  which  characterized  the  annual 
Washington  Birthday  celebration.  In  1896  the 
Old  Chapel  was  removed  to  make  room  for  the 
University  Library. 

To  Doctor  Carnahan  also  Princeton  owes  the  great 
elms  which  adorn  the  front  campus.  In  making  im- 
provements in  the  college  property,  he  cut  down  a 
row  of  poplars  that  had  stood  on  the  front  campus 
and  substituted  for  them  the  famous  Princeton  elms. 

172 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

The  refectory  was  enlarged,  and  a  residence  was 
built  for  Professor  Henry.  This  residence  stood  on 
the  present  site  of  Reunion  Hall,  and  when  that 
building  was  erected  in  1870,  the  Henry  residence 
was  torn  down  and  from  the  material  was  built 
the  house  near  Marquand  Chapel  in  which  the 
dean  of  the  college  now  resides.  More  important 
was  the  building  of  the  two  halls  of  the  literary 
societies,  the  sites  for  which  were  determined  by 
lot.  The  buildings  were  erected  in  the  late  thirties, 
the  funds  being  furnished  by  the  societies  them- 
selves. In  the  early  nineties  they  were  replaced 
by  the  present  marble  halls,  in  which  the  original 
architecture  is  reproduced. 

The  locations  of  the  Halls  completed  the  quad- 
rangle of  the  back  campus,  with  Nassau  Hall  on 
the  north,  East  and  West  Colleges  on  the  sides 
for  which  they  were  named,  the  buildings  of  the 
literary  societies  on  the  south,  and  the  old  Revolu- 
tionary cannon  in  the  center,  in  accordance  with  the 
plan  drawn  by  Professor  Henry.  Along  with  the 
Old  Chapel,  East  College  was  removed  in  1896  to 
make  room  for  the  University  Library,  but  the 
change  fortunately  did  not  disturb  the  outlines  of 
the  quadrangle. 

This  material  progress  had  meantime  been  accom- 
panied by  uninterrupted  growth.  To  such  distin- 
guished teachers  as  Henry,  Dod,  and  Torrey  had 
been  added  Professor  James  W.  Alexander  in  belles- 

173 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

lettres,  who  upon  his  assumption  of  the  pastorate 
of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  in  New 
York  was  succeeded  by  Professor  Matthew  B.  Hope. 
The  period  is  also  distinguished  for  the  beginning 
of  Princeton's  undergraduate  publications,  the 
Nassau  Literary  Magazine  having  been  established 
in  the  early  forties. 

Plans  for  a  law  department  were  put  into  effect 
in  1846,  when  a  law  faculty  was  established  with 
three  professors.  The  late  Chief  Justice  of  the 
New  Jersey  Supreme  Court,  Joseph  C.  Hornblower, 
was  appointed  to  the  chair  of  civil  law,  James  S. 
Green  of  the  board  of  trustees,  formerly  United 
States  District  Attorney,  to  the  chair  of  jurispru- 
dence, and  Judge  Richard  S.  Field  of  the  class  of 
1821,  to  the  chair  of  constitutional  law  and  juris- 
prudence. A  building  was  provided  by  Judge  Field 
—  the  building  on  Mercer  Street  now  known  as 
Ivy  Hall.  It  was  in  this  building  that  the  Ivy 
Club  had  its  first  home,  and  it  has  in  turn  done 
service  as  a  library  and  as  a  clubhouse  of  Trinity 
Parish. 

Lack  of  funds  caused  the  abandonment  of  the 
law  school  after  a  few  years.  The  attendance  was 
probably  never  more  than  a  dozen  at  one  time,  and 
only  seven  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws. 

The  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  founding 
of  the  college  was  formally  celebrated  at  the  Com- 
mencement of  1847.  There  was  much  occasion  for 

174 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

rejoicing.  The  college  had  been  rescued  from  its 
low  state  and  was  now  in  a  flourishing  condition, 
and  on  its  undergraduate  foundation  had  been 
established  the  graduate  department  in  law,  the 
opening  of  which  was  appropriately  made  a  part 
of  the  anniversary  exercises.  The  Commencement 
of  1847  was  accordingly  the  most  elaborate  in  the 
history  of  the  college  up  to  that  time.  Alumni  and 
friends  and  delegates  from  sister  institutions  gath- 
ered in  unprecedented  numbers,  the  graduates 
present  including  the  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  George  M.  Dallas  of  the  class  of  1810.  Three 
days  were  devoted  to  the  exercises  of  Commence- 
ment and  the  centennial  celebration.  The  official 
report  of  the  celebration,  subsequently  prepared 
by  a  committee  of  the  board  of  trustees,  assures 
us  that  "the  church  was  filled  with  an  audience 
which  for  beauty,  intellect  and  respectability  could 
scarcely  be  surpassed."  No  doubt  this  was  also 
true  of  the  graduating  exercises  the  next  day,  when 
those  possessed  of  such  "beauty,  intellect  and 
respectability"  were  edified  with  no  less  than 
twenty-three  set  speeches  by  the  senior  honor 
men,  not  to  mention  the  graduation  poem.  The 
English  salutatorian  of  this  distinguished  occasion 
was  the  late  Professor  Henry  Clay  Cameron,  who 
tied  with  his  fellow  Virginian,  Beverley  Randolph 
Wellford,  Jr.,  in  scholarship  for  the  whole  course, 
their  final  grade  being  ninety-eight  per  cent.  Well- 

175 


THE   STORY   OF   PRINCETON 

ford  was  the  valedictorian.  Professor  Cameron's 
Commencement  performance  was  appropriately  on 
the  subject  of  "Ancient  Literature",  a  subject  in 
which  his  analytic  accuracy  delighted  many  genera- 
tions of  more  or  less  ardent  devotees  of  the  father  of 
Greek  literature. 

The  alumni  "dinner"  was  held  outdoors,  in  fact 
in  the  very  quadrangle  where  Class  Day  is  now  so 
lightly  celebrated.  The  official  report  informs  us 
that  "tables  were  spread  beneath  a  spacious  and 
commodious  tent  for  the  accommodation  of  about 
seven  hundred  persons",  —  the  first  reunion  tent, 
but  sheltering  a  very  different  assembly  from  those 
of  a  more  joyful  day.  The  report  does  not  neglect 
to  mention  that  the  board  of  trustees  paid  for  the 
dinner,  an  expense  which  in  leaner  times  had  been 
so  loyally  met  by  the  hard-pressed  faculty.  Some- 
thing of  magic  must  have  been  attached  to  the 
number  twenty-three,  now  of  less  felicitous  repu- 
tation. As  there  had  been  twenty-three  orations 
at  the  Commencement  exercises,  so  at  the  alumni 
dinner  there  were  twenty-three  toasts,  thirteen 
having  been  formally  arranged  by  the  committee 
and  ten  of  an  impromptu  nature  having  emerged 
in  addition.  Between  the  courses  an  ode  written 
for  the  occasion  by  Matthias  Ward  was  "sung  in 
good  taste  by  Messrs.  Carter,  Alden,  Ilsley  and 
Wade,  the  whole  company  joining  in  the  chorus." 
This  ode  bears  no  marks  of  being  the  ancestor  of 

176 


rr:  |  w 

v,i 


Holder  Hall  iinti  Tower 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

those  less  formal  ditties  which  nowadays  enliven 
alumni  gatherings. 

It  is  likewise  recorded  that  "Auld  Lang  Syne" 
was  sung  by  Mr.  James  Alden  "with  delightful 
effect."  The  celebration  of  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  closed  more  or  less  cheerfully  with  a 
"levee  in  the  hall  of  the  Museum",  which  was 
given  by  the  ladies  of  the  faculty. 

At  the  Commencement  of  1853,  Doctor  Carnahan, 
now  in  his  seventy-eighth  year,  resigned  the  presi- 
dency. In  his  letter  of  resignation  he  could  look 
back  with  satisfaction  on  his  long  administration, 
though  with  characteristic  modesty  he  took  to  him- 
self no  credit  for  its  success.  He  gave  full  praise 
to  his  colleagues  of  the  faculty  and  trustees,  and 
especially  to  John  Maclean,  the  only  member  of 
the  faculty  who  had  been  in  continuous  service 
throughout  his  long  administration.  These  two 
had  worked  together  in  harmony,  with  singular 
devotion  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  college,  and 
under  their  joint  administration  the  enrollment 
had  grown  from  seventy  in  1829  to  two  hun- 
dred seventy-one  in  1852.  From  two  professors 
and  two  tutors  the  faculty  had  grown  to  the  re- 
spectable number  of  twelve  members.  During  his 
term  of  office,  sixteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven  stu- 
dents had  been  graduated,  exceeding  the  whole  number 
that  had  received  their  degrees  in  the  previous  history 
of  the  college.  To  the  credit  of  his  administration  also 

177 


THE   STORY   OF   PRINCETON 

was  the  most  important  building  period  since  the  found- 
ing, over  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  having  been 
spent  on  new  buildings  and  on  extending  and  improving 
the  campus  and  the  college  equipment.  Endowment 
for  scholarships  and  professorships  exceeding  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  had  been  added.  Graduates  of 
his  time  were  more  prominent  in  the  professions  than 
in  the  public  service,  especially  in  the  teaching  pro- 
fession. About  seventy-five  of  them  occupied  prom- 
inent positions  in  institutions  of  learning,  including 
nine  presidents  and  about  sixty  professors.  At 
least  seven  became  United  States  senators,  twenty- 
six  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  three 
were  members  of  the  cabinet,  five  foreign  ministers, 
three  governors  of  States,  five  presidents  of  state 
senates,  and  forty-three  judges  of  Federal,  state, 
and  other  courts. 

President  Carnahan  was  utterly  free  from  selfish- 
ness and  jealousy,  and  though  he  might  differ  with 
his  colleagues  on  questions  of  policy,  he  was  ever 
magnanimous  in  his  opposition.  To  his  faculty  he 
gave  large  freedom  of  action,  but  he  knew  how  to 
be  firm  when  sure  of  his  ground.  His  election  had 
been  unanimous,  and  it  was  due  to  his  generous 
respect  for  the  views  of  others  that  harmony  was 
restored  in  the  board  of  trustees  and  between  the 
faculty  and  the  governing  body.  Recognizing  that 
the  students  had  rights  which  the  authorities  were 
bound  to  respect,  early  in  his  term  he  won  the 

178 


DEPRESSION  AND   RECONSTRUCTION' 

loyalty  of  the  undergraduates,  and  after  the  one 
rebellion  in  the  first  few  weeks  of  his  administration 
there  was  never  again  a  combination  on  the  campus 
against  authority  during  the  thirty-one  years  he 
remained  at  the  head  of  the  college.  Though  he 
might  appear  austere  to  the  students,  they  never- 
theless came  to  know  that  in  all  his  dealings  with 
them  he  was  ruled  by  a  high  sense  of  justice.  Hand- 
some, dignified  and  of  presidential  port,  among  the 
students  he  was  always  known  as  "Boss."  This 
title  he  doubtless  acquired  because  he  looked  the 
part,  and  also  because  Vice-President  "Johnny" 
Maclean,  the  authority  with  whom  the  students 
came  in  more  frequent  contact,  was  so  accustomed 
to  consult  with  Doctor  Carnahan  on  all  sorts  of 
questions  that  he  had  literally  worn  a  path  across 
the  front  campus  from  his  residence  to  that  of  the 
president;  but  if  in  any  respect  "Boss"  Carnahan 
deserved  his  campus  sobriquet,  he  certainly  was  an 
"easy  boss."  His  death  occurred  on  March  3, 
1859,  at  the  home  of  his  daughter  in  Newark, 
where  he  was  visiting,  and  he  was  buried  four  days 
later  in  the  presidents'  plot  in  the  Princeton  ceme- 
tery. 

In  December,  1853,  Dr.  John  Maclean  was 
elected  to  the  presidency,  and  at  the  request  of  the 
trustees,  Doctor  Carnahan  continued  in  office  till 
the  close  of  the  college  year.  On  Commencement 
Day,  June  28,  1854,  Doctor  Maclean  was  formally 

179 


THE   STORY   OF   PRINCETON 

inaugurated.  The  ceremony  meant  scarcely  more 
than  a  change  in  name  of  the  administration.  As 
tutor,  professor,  and  vice-president,  Doctor  Maclean 
had  been  from  his  eighteenth  year  an  officer  of  the 
college  and  since  early  in  Doctor  Carnahan's 
term  he  had  been  so  closely  associated  with  the 
administration  that  the  step  from  vice-president 
to  the  presidency  was  merely  a  recognition  of  long 
and  faithful  service  which  caused  no  sudden  break 
in  policy. 

While  adhering  to  a  required  curriculum  for  all 
students,  President  Maclean  proposed  to  extend  and 
improve  the  course  of  study  and  increase  the  en- 
trance requirements,  and  to  this  end  he  urged  an 
additional  endowment.  He  did  not  neglect  the 
opportunity  to  emphasize  the  college  laws,  in  the 
administration  of  which  he  had  spent  so  many 
sleepless  nights.  He  proposed  to  continue  the 
long  established  practice  of  careful  oversight,  which 
he  believed  would  prevent  violations  and  the  con- 
sequent necessity  of  detection  and  punishment. 
While  making  allowances  for  youthful  spirits,  the 
law  nevertheless  would  be  enforced,  a  warning 
which  must  have  raised  a  smile  from  the  students, 
who,  as  Doctor  De  Witt  remarks,  "knew  well  that 
Dr.  Maclean  was  much  freer  in  issuing  threats  of 
discipline  than  faithful  in  redeeming  them." 

President  Maclean  was  unfortunately  destined, 
to  be  hampered  by  disaster  within  and  civil  strife 

180 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

without.  Less  than  a  year  after  his  inauguration, 
Nassau  Hall  was  again  destroyed  by  fire,  and  six 
years  later,  in  common  with  sister  institutions, 
Princeton  suffered  the  shock  of  Civil  War.  Not- 
withstanding these  disasters,  the  Maclean  adminis- 
tration has  to  its  credit  a  strengthening  of  the  faculty 
which  bore  important  fruit,  and  especially  a  note- 
worthy increase  in  the  funds  of  the  college. 

An  effort  had  been  made  to  stamp  out  Greek  letter 
fraternities,  some  of  which  had  established  chapters 
at  Princeton  during  the  preceding  decade.  The 
authorities  were  convinced  that  the  fraternities 
were  harmful  to  the  college,  that  their  activity  was 
injurious  to  the  literary  societies,  and  furthermore 
that  they  tended  to  divide  the  college  into  cliques, 
which,  in  addition  to  other  bad  influences,  strove 
for  the  advancement  of  their  members  in  winning 
college  honors  without  regard  to  merit  and  in  shield- 
ing them  in  cases  of  infraction  of  college  laws.  In 
Doctor  Maclean's  first  year  the  students  were  re- 
quired to  give  a  promise  not  to  join  a  fraternity 
while  in  college.  This  promise,  however,  was  often 
disregarded,  until  finally  the  authorities  imposed  a 
penalty  of  dismissal  for  membership  in  a  fraternity. 
This  drastic  action  drove  out  most  of  the  secret 
societies,  but  some  of  them  maintained  a  sub  rosa 
existence,  until  they  were  finally  banished  by  the 
inflexible  will  of  Doctor  McCosh. 

Less  injurious  were  the  "horn  sprees"   and   the 

181 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

anonymous  publication  of  scurrilous  pamphlets,  the 
most  notorious  of  which  was  The  Nassau  Rake. 
The  old-time  "horn  spree"  originated  in  the  spirit 
of  fun-making  and  had  no  more  serious  object  than 
the  worrying  of  the  faculty.  Groups  of  fancifully 
dressed  revelers  would  sally  forth  at  night,  armed 
with  tin  horns,  whose  raucous  blasts  awoke  the 
faculty  and  the  citizens.  This  was  the  signal  for  the 
issuing  forth  of  the  chief  disciplinarian,  "Johnny" 
Maclean,  who,  to  the  delight  of  the  students,  would 
pursue  them  until  by  circuitous  routes  they  scam- 
pered to  their  rooms.  A  somewhat  modified  revival 
of  the  "horn  spree"  is  exemplified  in  "polers'  recess", 
which  at  nine  o'clock  during  the  examination  period 
makes  night  hideous,  though  the  purpose  is  not  so 
much  the  worrying  of  the  faculty  as  the  celebration 
of  a  respite  from  the  grind  of  preparing  for  examina- 
tions. 

There  was  hazing  also  in  Doctor  Maclean's  time, 
though  of  a  rather  mild  nature.  One  of  its  forms 
was  the  "smoking  out"  of  particularly  aggressive 
members  of  the  freshman  class,  a  custom  which 
began  in  the  dim  past  and  continued  into  Doctor 
McCosh's  time.  Groups  of  sophomores  would  in- 
vade such  a  freshman's  room  and  smoke  their  pipes 
until  the  atmosphere  was  so  thick  that  it  had  the 
desired  effect  upon  the  victim.  Cases  are  on  record 
in  which  the  smokers  were  themselves  the  victims  of 
the  thick  fumes  intended  for  the  discomfiture  of  a 

182 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

freshman,  and  Charles  Godfrey  Leland  of  the  class 
of  '45  relates  how  he,  an  inveterate  smoker  even 
before  he  entered  college,  put  to  rout  the  entire 
company  of  his  persecutors. 

The  Nassau  Rake  was  surreptitiously  put  out  by 
members  of  the  sophomore  class  and  distributed 
during  the  junior  oratorical  contest  or  at  similar 
times.  From  the  gallery  of  the  old  First  Church 
copies  of  the  Rake  would  be  showered  on  the  audi- 
ence, to  be  eagerly  grabbed  by  students  and  visitors, 
while  the  president  denounced  the  editors  and 
threatened  expulsion.  Its  pages  were  filled  with 
mercilessly  pointed  references  to  members  of  the 
faculty  and  to  personal  traits  of  members  of  the 
junior  and  freshman  classes.  It  brought  forth  an 
equally  scurrilous  retort  in  a  publication  known  as 
the  Whang-Doodle,  in  which  the  sophomores  and 
seniors  were  held  up  to  ridicule,  and  the  foibles  of  the 
faculty  were  by  no  means  overlooked.  As  late  as 
the  nineties  a  noxious  offspring  of  these  publications 
survived  in  the  Procs  issued  each  autumn  by  the 
sophomores  and  freshmen,  which,  pasted  on  build- 
ings and  fences  in  Princeton  and  the  neighboring 
country  and  towns,  and  even  on  freight  cars  at  the 
local  station,  heralded  far  and  wide  in  anything  but 
parlor  language  the  shortcomings,  real  or  imaginary, 
of  more  or  less  conspicuous  members  of  the  lower 
classes. 

The  first  great  shock  to  the  progress  of  the  college 

183 


in  Doctor  Maclean's  administration  occurred  on  the 
evening  of  March  10,  -1855,  when  fire  again  de- 
stroyed all  that  was  combustible  of  Nassau  Hall. 
The  fire  broke  out  in  a  student's  room  on  the  second 
floor  of  the  building  during  the  absence  of  the  occu- 
pant. A  high  wind  was  blowing  from  the  north- 
west. The  flames  quickly  spread,  and  by  midnight 
only  the  blackened  walls  of  the  old  building  were 
left  standing.  The  local  fire  companies  came  to 
the  rescue,  but  this  was  long  before  Princeton  had 
motor  engines  and  a  water  system,  and  the  two 
college  pumps  were  altogether  inadequate.  The 
high  wind  carried  the  flames  to  East  College  and 
Whig  Hall,  which,  however,  were  saved  by  the 
students.  The  more  valuable  contents  of  Nassau 
Hall  were  saved,  but  the  Philadelphian  Society's 
library  was  burned,  as  well  as  much  of  the  furniture 
of  the  students  who  occupied  the  building.  There 
was  no  hint  of  incendiarism,  as  there  was  when 
Nassau  Hall  was  burned  in  1802. 

The  disaster  did  not  cause  the  suspension  of  col- 
lege exercises,  and  the  students  who  had  roomed  in 
the  building  were  temporarily  housed  in  the  village. 
The  insurance  was  entirely  inadequate  for  the  re- 
building of  Nassau  Hall.  It  amounted  to  twelve 
thousand  dollars,  whereas  the  cost  of  reconstruction 
was  about  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Of  this  sum 
eighteen  thousand  dollars  was  raised  by  subscrip- 
tion, and  the  balance  came  out  of  the  income  of 

184 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

the  college,  being  distributed  over  five  years.  In 
the  rebuilding,  which  was  completed  the  following 
year,  only  the  main  entrance  on  the  north  was  re- 
tained, the  two  other  northern  entrances  shown  in 
old  pictures  being  omitted.  The  former  prayer 
hall  was  enlarged  to  the  southward  by  several  feet, 
and  the  longitudinal  corridors,  in  whose  dark  recesses 
for  more  than  one  hundred  years  students  had  found 
shelter  to  pester  the  faculty,  were  craftily  divided  by 
cross  walls,  a  measure  introduced  by  Doctor  Maclean 
for  the  easier  prevention  of  disorder. 

Though  Princeton  did  not  lie  in  the  path  of  the 
war  which  rent  the  nation  from  1861  to  1865,  and  its 
physical  equipment  therefore  was  not  affected  by 
the  intersectional  strife,  as  it  was  during  the  Revo- 
lution, the  college  nevertheless  suffered  deeply  during 
the  Civil  War.  For  of  all  the  northern  colleges, 
Princeton  was  most  conspicuous  as  a  place  which 
welcomed  the  sons  of  the  South.  There  were  times 
when  fully  one  half  of  the  students  were  from  below 
Mason  and  Dixon's  Line.  The  year  before  the  war 
twenty-six  of  the  thirty-one  States  were  represented 
in  the  undergraduate  body,  and  of  the  three  hun- 
dred students  in  college  over  one  third  were  from 
the  South.  At  that  time  Harvard's  registration 
was  largely  local,  and  Princeton  had  taken  from 
Yale  some  of  its  southern  patronage,  because  the 
college  at  New  Haven  had  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  the  South  on  account  of  a  declaration  by  mem- 

185 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

bers  of  the  Yale  facult7  on  the  Kansas  question. 
Of  Princeton's  northern  students  fully  half  were 
ardent  adherents  of  the  newly  organized  Republican 
party,  and  so  large  a  body  of  advocates  of  the  non- 
extension  of  slavery  could  not  but  have  its  effect  on 
the  sensibilities  of  the  boys  from  the  South,  who 
even  in  less  tense  times  were  always  deeply  interested 
in  politics.  The  sectional  issues  of  the  period  and 
especially  slavery  were  the  central  themes  of  campus 
discussion.  The  personal  charm  and  engaging  man- 
ners of  the  southern  students  made  them  very  popu- 
lar, and  between  the  sons  of  the  North  and  South 
warm  friendships  grew  up,  which  even  sectional 
strife,  intense  as  it  was,  could  not  shatter.  This 
camaraderie  of  the  campus  gave  rise  to  mutual  con- 
sideration for  the  feelings  of  those  from  the  oppos- 
ing sections.  And  at  Princeton  there  was  perhaps 
less  of  rancor  than  at  any  other  northern  college. 
When  it  became  apparent  that,  faithful  to  their 
convictions,  the  students  from  the  opposing  sections 
would  soon  be  opposing  each  other  in  arms,  rather 
than  merely  in  argument,  the  friendships  formed 
beneath  the  elms  became  even  more  closely  cemented, 
and  it  was  with  genuine  sadness  that  these  intimate 
ties  were  severed. 

Early  in  1861  the  number  of  southern  students 
had  begun  to  diminish.  They  left  very  quietly,  and 
their  northern  friends  were  careful  to  be  considerate 
of  their  feelings.  After  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter, 

186 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

the  southern  students  from  all  four  classes  departed 
in  a  body  for  their  homes,  the  funds  for  their  journey 
being  supplied  by  President  Maclean.  Doctor  John 
De  Witt,  '61,  who  was  in  college  at  the  time,  relates 
the  following  touching  ceremony,  which  illustrates 
the  deep  feeling  pervading  the  campus:  "One  in- 
cident in  the  'Uprising  of  the  North'  was  the  nailing 
of  the  colors  to  the  flagpole  above  the  cupola  of 
Nassau  Hall.  To  the  committee  having  the  cere- 
mony in  charge  came  a  representative  of  the  south- 
ern students  then  in  Princeton,  with  the  request  that 
they  might  be  permitted  officially  for  the  last  time 
to  salute  the  flag.  And  one  —  John  Dawson  of 
Canton,  Mississippi  —  asked  that  with  his  violin 
he  might  accompany  the  singing  of  the  '  Star 
Spangled  Banner.'  This -was  to  be  their  farewell. 
The  flag  was  raised.  The  salute  was  given.  The 
southern  students  —  not  many,  for  the  most  had 
hastened  home  —  then  marched  off  the  campus, 
the  northern  students  standing  uncovered  before 
them  at  salute.  Before  the  next  day  the  most  of 
them  had  gone." 

Most  of  these  southern  students  entered  the 
Confederate  army,  and  a  large  proportion  of  those 
who  fought  for  the  lost  cause  were  commissioned 
officers. 

On  the  other  hand  many  of  the  students  entered 
the  Union  army  or  navy.  How  the  classes  were 
divided  is  illustrated  by  the  figures  of  the  senior 

187 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

class  of  '6 1.  Twenty  members  of  this  class  were 
in  the  Union  service ;  six  of  these  gave  their  lives 
for  the  northern  cause,  and  of  the  twenty-one 
members  who  entered  the  Confederate  army,  four 
fell  in  the  service.  The  class  of  '62  suffered  even 
heavier  losses.  Its  members  dwindled  from  one 
hundred  in  sophomore  year  to  forty-eight  at  its 
Commencement.  The  class  of  '63  had  seventeen 
men  in  the  Confederate  service  and  twenty-two  in 
the  Union  service.  In  the  two  services  Princeton 
had  about  one  hundred  commissioned  officers,  in- 
cluding about  fifty  in  the  Union  army,  and  eight 
brigadier  generals  and  fourteen  colonels  on  the  Con- 
federate side,  not  to  mention  lesser  officers.  The 
departure  of  so  many  students  was  a  severe  blow  to 
the  college.  The  registration  dropped  from  three 
hundred  fourteen  in  1860-1861,  the  largest,  by 
the  way,  on  record,  up  to  that  time,  to  two  hundred 
twenty-one  the  following  autumn,  and  throughout 
the  war  the  students  were  constantly  departing 
to  join  the  service  of  their  choice.  This  loss  was 
never  regained  in  Doctor  Maclean's  administration. 
In  view  of  Princeton's  clientele  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war,  it  was  natural  that  the  college  authorities 
should  endeavor  to  maintain  neutrality  in  their 
public  attitude  toward  the  grave  political  questions 
of  the  period  ;  but  with  the  recent  illustration  of  the 
difficulty  of  holding  to  a  policy  of  neutrality  in  a 
great  international  conflict  from  which  this  country 

188 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

was  separated  by  the  breadth  of  the  Atlantic,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  how  much  more  difficult  it  was 
to  avoid  showing  favor  in  a  war  at  home,  when  par- 
tisanship ran  high,  and  every  inhabitant  of  the 
land  was  affected  by  the  civil  strife,  and  when  prac- 
tically every  citizen  was  arrayed  on  the  one  side  or 
the  other.  The  test  at  Princeton  was  bound  to 
come,  and  it  came  early  in  the  war.  There  re- 
mained a  few  southern  students  in  college,  but  the 
sympathies  of  by  far  the  great  majority  were  for 
the  Union  cause.  The  Nassau  Cadets,  a  military 
company  avowedly  preparing  for  service  in  the 
northern  army,  was  organized  by  the  students  with 
over  one  hundred  members,  and  their  regular  drill 
enhanced  the  military  spirit  and  the  feeling  of 
patriotism  for  the  Union.  This  organization  was 
never  called  into  service  as  such,  but  some  of  its 
members  volunteered  in  the  northern  cause.  When 
a  national  flag  was  run  up  over  the  belfry  of  Nassau 
Hall,  President  Maclean,  in  pursuance  of  the  policy 
of  neutrality,  felt  constrained  to  have  it  taken 
down.  Although  the  faculty  for  the  most  part  were 
adherents  of  the  Union,  this  action  was  felt  neces- 
sary in  order  to  avoid  conflicts  among  the  students. 
So  vigorous  were  the  protests,  however,  that  the 
flag  was  soon  raised  again. 

Even  more  significant  of  the  feeling  pervading 
the  campus  was  an  incident  which  finally  decided 
Princeton's  attitude  in  the  conflict.  It  was  to  the 

189 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

credit  of  the  southern  students  still  in  college  that, 
beyond  peacefully  maintaining  their  convictions  in 
campus  discussion,  no  act  of  outright  violence  was 
chargeable  to  them.  There  were,  however,  a  con- 
siderable number  of  northern  students  whose  sym- 
pathy was  with  the  seceding  States,  and  the  ag- 
gressive attitude  of  some  of  these  was  extremely 
obnoxious  to  their  fellow  northerners.  One  of 
these  too  aggressive  southern  sympathizers  having 
openly  gloated  over  a  disaster  of  the  Union  forces, 
he  was  taken  from  his  room  at  night  by  a  number 
of  the  students  and  treated  to  a  thorough  ducking 
under  the  college  pump  in  the  rear  of  Nassau  Hall. 
The  college  was  in  a  ferment  of  excitement  because 
of  this  incident,  and  three  of  the  ducking  party, 
having  been  detected,  were  suspended  by  the  faculty. 
This  additional  attempt  to  maintain  the  semblance 
of  neutrality  thoroughly  aroused  the  campus  com- 
munity as  well  as  the  town.  Citizens  took  the  lead 
in  organizing  a  patriotic  demonstration,  in  which 
the  students  joined.  There  was  a  parade,  with 
cheering  and  shouting  and  the  spirited  singing  of 
the  "Star  Spangled  Banner."  The  next  day  when 
the  three  suspended  students  departed,  they  were 
given  a  rousing  send-off.  In  an  open  carriage 
elaborately  embellished  with  national  colors,  they 
were  drawn  by  their  fellow  students  in  a  triumphal 
procession  through  the  streets  and  down  to  the  old 
railroad  station,  which  was  then  at  the  canal.  Here 

190 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

there  were  speeches  by  the  suspended  students 
and  other  undergraduates.  This  demonstration  fixed 
the  attitude  of  the  college  beyond  further  misunder- 
standing. Doctor  Maclean  issued  a  public  state- 
ment, in  which  he  defended  the  suspension  of  the 
students  as  a  necessary  measure  of  disapproval  of 
an  act  of  violence,  but  at  the  same  time  the  presi- 
dent made  clear  the  sympathy  of  the  authorities 
for  the  Union  cause,  and  their  determination  that 
students  must  desist  from  the  utterance  of  offensive 
sentiments  against  the  general  government,  in  its 
effort  to  maintain  the  Union  and  the  Constitution. 

In  1864  Princeton  conferred  the  honorary  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws  upon  President  Lincoln.  The 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  aroused  great  enthu- 
siasm at  Princeton,  and  expressions  of  ardent  ap- 
proval in  the  pages  of  the  Lit.  The  fall  of  Richmond 
was  also  enthusiastically  celebrated,  and  when  Lin- 
coln was  assassinated,  the  college  bell  was  tolled, 
and  the  chapel  and  buildings  of  the  literary  societies 
were  draped  in  deep  mourning.  Sectional  feeling 
was  obliterated,  and  the  entire  undergraduate  body 
marched  over  to  the  Junction  to  pay  their  respects 
to  the  fallen  President  as  his  funeral  train  passed 
by  on  its  mournful  journey  in  the  early  morning. 

The  period  of  national  reconstruction  which  fol- 
lowed the  war  brought  conditions  which  were  new 
to  President  Maclean,  trained  under  the  old  order 
and  now  well  past  his  threescore  years.  He  felt 

191 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

that  new  blood  and  new  energy  were  needed  at  the 
head  of  the  college,  to  meet  the  changed  conditions, 
and  under  these  circumstances  it  was  characteristic 
of  his  good  sense  that  he  should  have  tendered  his 
resignation  of  the  presidency  in  1868.  No  other 
president  of  Princeton  has  been  so  closely  identified 
throughout  his  life  with  the  college.  The  son  of  a 
professor,  he  was  born  in  the  shadow  of  Nassau 
Hall,  and  from  the  day  of  his  birth  in  1800  until  his 
long  life  closed  in  1886,  his  biography  is  part  and 
parcel  of  the  history  of  the  institution  which  he 
served  with  such  unexampled  fidelity.  If  he  blazed 
no  new  trails,  his  career  as  vice-president  and  presi- 
dent stands  out  conspicuously  as  that  of  a  great 
conservator. 

In  1853  Maclean  had  successfully  prevented  an 
attempt  to  place  Princeton  under  the  control  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  maintenance,  however, 
of  administrative  independence,  now  recognized  as 
a  priceless  heritage,  deprived  Princeton  of  financial 
assistance,  of  which  some  of  the  other  colleges 
availed  themselves ;  this  sacrifice  emphasized  the 
necessity  of  increasing  the  endowment.  With  Pro- 
fessor Matthew  B.  Hope,  Doctor  Maclean  devised 
a  plan  under  which  over  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  was  raised  for  scholarships,  and  endowment 
was  secured  for  new  chairs  which  brought  to  Prince- 
ton Professor  Lyman  H.  Atwater  in  mental  and 
moral  philosophy,  and  Professor  Arnold  Guyot  in 

192 


Iii  flu-  (irwit   Hall  of  the  Graduuti-  Coll.  un- 


DEPRESSION  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

geology  and  physical  geography.  During  Doctor 
Maclean's  administration  and  the  closing  year  of 
Doctor  Carnahan's,  additions  to  the  faculty  included 
those  of  such  well-known  teachers  as  George  Mus- 
grave  Giger,  '41,  John  Thomas  Duffield,  '41,  James 
Clement  Moffat,  '35,  Henry  Clay  Cameron,  '47, 
John  Stillwell  Schanck,  '40,  and  Charles  Woodruff 
Shields,  '44. 

In  Maclean's  administration,  in  addition  to  the 
expenses  of  rebuilding  Nassau  Hall,  the  invested 
funds  were  increased  by  at  least  two  hundred 
forty  thousand  dollars.  Valuable  gifts  of  land  were 
also  added  to  the  campus,  and  a  gift  of  sixty  thou- 
sand dollars  provided  for  the  Halsted  Observatory. 

If  Doctor  Maclean  is  remembered  for  these  im- 
portant things,  even  more  is  he  remembered  by  the 
students  of  his  time  as  first  and  last  a  disciplinarian. 
And  though  this  is  their  most  distinct  recollection 
of  him,  it  is  a  singular  tribute  to  his  memory  that 
they  invariably  recall  him  as  the  "best  loved  man  in 
America." 

After  his  resignation  Doctor  Maclean  continued 
to  live  in  Princeton  until  his  death  in  1886.  He  was 
a  loyal  supporter  of  the  administration  of  his  suc- 
cessor, and  rounded  out  his  great  service  to  the 
college  by  writing  its  history  in  two  large  volumes. 


193 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    GREAT   AWAKENING 

WITH  the  rebirth  of  the  nation  after  the 
Civil  War,  Princeton  was  singularly  fortu- 
nate in  the  choice  of  a  president  to  inaugurate  the 
new  era.  The  old  order  was  passing  away.  With 
the  integrity  of  the  Union  firmly  established,  the 
country  was  entering  upon  a  period  of  unprecedented 
development,  which  was  to  react  upon  the  educa- 
tional institutions  in  a  wider  and  more  serviceable 
life  and  in  the  steady  and  increasing  flow  of  bene- 
factions. Material  expansion  was  to  be  paralleled 
by  a  great  intellectual  awakening,  which  was  to 
transform  the  American  college.  The  extension  of 
the  bounds  of  knowledge,  particularly  in  the  physi- 
cal sciences,  was  at  last  to  be  recognized  in  the  re- 
casting of  the  college  curriculum.  Not  because  of 
the  lack  of  able  and  eminent  teachers,  but  because 
of  the  inflexible  limits  of  the  college  programme, 
American  youth  had  for  several  years  been  seeking 
the  wider  advantages  of  the  German  schools,  in 
comparison  with  which  the  colleges  at  home  were 
losing  ground.  To  counteract  this  foreign  influence, 

194 


THE   GREAT  AWAKKXIXG 

a  few  of  the  American  institutions  were  bestirring 
themselves.  Under  Woolsey  at  Yale  the  Sheffield 
Scientific  School  and  the  Graduate  School  had  been 
established,  and  alumni  had  been  admitted  to  the 
corporation.  In  1864  Barnard  had  been  called  to 
the  presidency  of  Columbia,  where  the  School  of 
Mines  had  been  opened  for  the  teaching  of  applied 
sciences.  In  1869,  despite  strong  opposition,  Har- 
vard had  taken  the  radical  step  of  placing  its  brilliant 
young  professor  of  chemistry,  Charles  W.  Eliot,  at 
the  head  of  the  university,  a  progressive  adminis- 
trator who  was  to  have  a  profound  influence  on 
American  education.  Four  years  before,  Cornell 
had  been  incorporated  for  the  avowed  purpose  of 
giving  practical  training  in  the  sciences  as  well  as 
the  humanities.  A  few  years  later,  Johns  Hopkins 
University  was  to  inaugurate  under  Gilman  its  great 
career  in  the  field  of  research,  and  President  Angell 
was  to  begin  an  administration  which  was  to  put  the 
University  of  Michigan  in  the  forefront  of  American 
educational  institutions. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  educational  renais- 
sance that  James  McCosh  was  called  to  Princeton 
in  1868,  the  year  before  President  Eliot  began 
his  administration  at  Harvard.  Upon  the  resigna- 
tion of  President  Maclean,  the  Princeton  trustees 
had  chosen  as  his  successor  the  Reverend  Doctor 
William  Henry  Green  of  the  Princeton  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  whose  family  had  been  associated 

195 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

with  the  college  from  its  foundation.  Doctor 
Green,  loath  to  relinquish  his  work  in  theological 
education,  declined  the  election,  whereupon  the 
Reverend  Doctor  James  McCosh,  then  professor  of 
logic  and  philosophy  in  Queen's  College,  Belfast, 
Ireland,  was  invited  to  fill  the  vacancy.  A  meta- 
physician, an  ecclesiastical  reformer,  a  teacher  who 
had  successfully  dealt  with  new  problems  in  the  in- 
auguration of  a  royal  college  in  Ireland,  a  scholar 
whose  researches  in  the  higher  thought  had  not 
been  divorced  from  a  knowledge  of  the  world  and  a 
shrewd  appreciation  of  the  diverse  elements  of  hu- 
man nature,  Doctor  McCosh's  reputation  had  pre- 
ceded him  across  the  Atlantic,  and  this  reputation 
had  been  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  a  visit  to 
this  country  in  1866. 

Born  April  I,  1811,  in  Ayrshire  on  the  "banks  of 
the  bonnie  Doon",  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of 
Robert  Burns,  his  ancestors  were  of  that  sturdy 
stock  of  large  farmers  whose  influence  was  felt 
not  alone  in  the  history  of  their  own  Scotland. 
His  great  powers  began  to  be  manifest  as  a  stu- 
dent at  the  University  of  Glasgow  and  later  at 
Edinburgh,  where  he  came  under  the  influence  of 
Chalmers  and  Welsh  and  Sir  William  Hamilton. 
Ordained  in  the  established  Church  of  Scotland, 
before  he  was  thirty  years  of  age  came  the  crisis  in 
that  Church  which  was  to  lead  to  its  disruption. 
Doctor  McCosh  was  a  leader  in  this  movement  to 

196 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

free  the  Church  from  subjection  to  the  Crown,  and 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 
The  publication  in  1850  of  the  first  of  his  philo- 
sophical works,  "The  Method  of  Divine  Govern- 
ment", brought  him  at  once  into  prominence  and 
led  to  his  appointment  to  the  chair  of  logic  and 
metaphysics  of  the  newly  established  Queen's  Col- 
lege in  Belfast.  While  he  had  this  appointment 
under  consideration,  Doctor  McCosh  visited  Belfast, 
where  he  learned  of  opposition  to  the  importation 
of  a  stranger  from  Scotland.  One  of  the  professors 
having  invited  him  to  take  dinner  with  a  company 
of  those  influential  in  the  community,  his  host's  son 
entertained  the  company  by  singing  the  ballad 
written  by  Thackeray  on  McCosh's  appointment  to 
Queen's  College,  which  had  appeared  in  Punch. 
Doctor  McCosh  evidently  was  not  a  reader  of 
Punch;  at  any  rate  he  had  never  heard  of  the 
whimsical  verses  in  which  Thackeray  had  turned 
his  satire  on  the  Irish  resentment  of  the  appointment 
of  a  Scotchman  to  a  college  in  Ulster.  Thackeray 
represented  Master  Molloy  Moloney,  a  youth  of 
fifteen,  as  expressing  this  resentment : 

As  I  think  of  the  insult  that's  done  to  this  nation, 
Red  tears  of  rivinge  from  me  faytures  I  wash, 

And  uphold  in  this  pome,  to  the  world's  daytistation, 
The  sleeves  that  appointed  PROFESSOR  M'Cosn. 

Taken    entirely    by    surprise,     Doctor    McCosh 
nevertheless  joined  in  the  merriment  at  his  expense. 

197 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

His  good-humored  acceptance  of  the  situation  won 
the  hearts  of  the  company,  and  this  incident,  to- 
gether with  the  laugh  raised  by  Thackeray's  satire, 
when  it  was  copied  in  many  papers,  dissipated  the 
opposition  to  McCosh.  In  accepting  the  appoint- 
ment, the  Scotch  professor  received  a  hearty  Irish 
welcome. 

At  Belfast  McCosh's  great  qualities  as  a  teacher 
were  first  manifested.  His  pupils  achieved  marked 
success,  one  of  them  being  Sir  Robert  Hart,  for 
many  years  the  head  of  the  Chinese  Customs 
Service. 

His  busy  life  in  Belfast  brought  him  in  contact 
with  high  and  low.  On  one  occasion  when  he  was 
riding  with  the  Marquis  of  Dufferin,  Doctor  McCosh, 
always  direct,  boldly  said,  "My  Lord,  I  fear  you 
are  not  fulfilling  the  end  of  your  life."  "He  looked 
at  me  sternly,"  said  Doctor  McCosh,  "and  asked 
me  somewhat  imperiously  what  I  meant.  I  told 
him  that  I  said  what  I  meant,  and  meant  what  I 
said.  I  told  him  that  he  had  high  talents  and  ac- 
complishments ;  that  he  had  extensive  patrimonial 
influence  in  his  descent,  and  extensive  property,  and 
that  something  great  and  good  was  expected  of 
him."  Doctor  McCosh  urged  Lord  Dufferin  to 
devote  himself  to  statesmanship.  Very  soon  after 
this  conversation,  the  Marquis  was  deep  in  political 
affairs,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  the 
turning  point  in  a  career  which  was  crowned  with 

198 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

the  Governorship  of  Canada  and  the  Governorship 
of  India. 

Doctor  McCosh  was  in  his  fifty-eighth  year  when 
he  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  Princeton,  but  like 
Doctor  Johnson,  who  at  sixty  heroically  began  the 
compilation  of  his  voluminous  dictionary,  McCosh 
was  eager  to  enter  upon  another  great  task.  Twenty 
years  later  he  said,  "In  those  days  I  was  like  the 
hound  in  the  leash  ready  to  start,  and  they  en- 
couraged me  with  their  shouts  as  I  sprang  forth 
into  the  hunt."  It  was  in  this  spirit  that  McCosh 
gave  Princeton  its  greatest  administration  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  university  of  to-day. 

Doctor  McCosh  arrived  with  his  family  in  Prince- 
ton on  October  22,  the  faculty  and  students 
parading  to  the  station  to  meet  him.  He  was  given 
an  enthusiastic  reception  and  escorted  to  the  presi- 
dent's residence.  A  story  has  come  down  that  after 
this  reception  the  two  young  ladies  of  the  McCosh 
family  consented  to  take  a  walk  with  a  couple  of 
undergraduates.  Their  stroll  continued  to  Trenton 
and  back  without  perceptibly  tiring  the  president's 
daughters,  but  their  escorts  required  two  days  in  bed 
to  recover  from  the  twenty-four  miles'  hike. 

The  formal  inauguration  took  place  on  October 
27  and  attracted  the  largest  crowd  of  visitors  that 
had  ever  come  to  Princeton.  Special  trains  were 
run  from  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  a  distinct 
novelty  in  those  days.  Alumni  and  friends  of  the 

199 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

college  gathered  for  the  great  event  with  manifest 
enthusiasm.  At  the  inauguration  exercises  were 
two  graduates  of  the  class  of  1795  —  Elbert  Herring 
and  Joseph  Warren  Scott.  These  veterans  bridged 
the  gulf  of  a  hundred  years  that  stretched  between 
the  administrations  of  Princeton's  two  great  presi- 
dents from  Scotland  —  Witherspoon  and  McCosh. 
The  singular  parallelism  in  the  lives  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  two  Scotch  presidents  has  become  a 
classic  in  Princeton  history. 

The  striking  personality  of  Doctor  McCosh  aug- 
mented the  reputation  that  had  preceded  his  arrival. 
His  tall,  massive  frame,  his  noble  head,  his  clear-cut, 
intellectual  features,  his  resonant  voice,  his  vitality 
and  intense  earnestness  combined  to  stamp  him  as  a 
dominant  and  magisterial  individuality.  And  it 
was  soon  to  be  evident  that  he  knew  what  he  wanted 
and  how  to  get  it. 

In  his  inaugural  he  had  no  revolutionary  design ; 
he  recognized  that  the  American  College  was  the 
outgrowth  of  American  conditions,  and  that  improve- 
ments must  be  built  on  the  old  foundations.  This 
granted,  however,  he  saw  ample  room  for  improve- 
ments. New  branches  of  knowledge  which  had  won 
recognition  should  be  incorporated  in  the  curricu- 
lum. But  whatever  was  to  be  taught  should  be 
taught  in  the  philosophical  spirit,  imparting  "a  rich 
furniture  of  fundamental  and  established  principles." 

He  proposed  four  divisions  of  the  curriculum, 

200 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

comprehending  ancient  and  modern  languages, 
mathematics,  the  physical  sciences,  and  mental  and 
social  sciences.  The  day  of  the  universal  scholar, 
however,  had  passed.  No  student  could  be  master 
of  all  subjects.  It  was  necessary  to  permit  him  to 
choose  between  them,  and  here  Doctor  McCosh 
introduced  the  principle  of  election.  Choice,  how- 
ever, was  not  to  be  at  random,  but  was  to  be  so 
controlled  that  the  student  before  entering  upon 
advanced  studies  should  have  at  least  an  elementary 
acquaintance  with  the  subject  of  his  election. 

McCosh's  most  popular  announcement  was  his 
advocacy  of  physical  training.  He  maintained  that 
every  college  should^  have  a  "gymnasium  for  the 
body  as  well  as  for  the  mind."  And  when  he  vigor- 
ously asserted  that  Princeton  needed  an  adequate 
gymnasium,  the  shout  from  the  undergraduates,  in 
his  own  phrase,  was  "sufficient  to  rend  the  heavens." 
The  students  themselves  had  contributed  the  funds 
to  build  a  modest  gymnasium  in  1858,  and  for  several 
years  they  had  had  a  handball  court  back  of  West 
College.  Under  the  leadership  of  the  late  Lewis  W. 
Mudge,  '62,  a  baseball  team  had  been  organized, 
and  the  "Nassaus"  had  defeated  the  best  professional 
teams  of  the  time.  But  here  was  the  first  official 
recognition  of  outdoor  sports,  and  Doctor  McCosh's 
encouragement  during  the  succeeding  years  was  •  a 
powerful  influence  in  firmly  establishing  Princeton's 
position  in  athletics. 

201 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

All  Princeton  was  soon  aware  that  Doctor 
McCosh  in  his  inaugural  had  not  spoken  for  ora- 
torical effect.  A  new  breath  was  blowing  through 
the  campus,  and  the  trustees,  faculty,  alumni,  and 
students  felt  its  influence. 

The  Darwinian  controversy  was  then  raging. 
Notwithstanding  Princeton's  conservative  position, 
McCosh  declared  at  once  his  convictions  on  evolu- 
tion. He  believed  that  religion  should  not  be  sub- 
jected to  science,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
science  should  not  be  subjected  to  religion.  Each 
should  be  given  its  independent  place,  supported  by 
its  own  evidence.  In  his  search  for  the  truth  he 
did  not  fear  its  effect  upon  preconceived  theological 
dogmas.  He  has  clearly  stated  his  position  as  fol- 
lows :  "When  a  scientific  theory  is  brought  before 
us,  our  first  inquiry  is  not  whether  it  is  consistent 
with  religion,  but  whether  it  is  true.  If  it  is  found 
to  be  true,  on  the  principle  of  the  induction  of  Bacon, 
it  will  be  found  that  it  is  consistent  with  religion,  on 
the  principle  of  the  unity  of  truth." 

Doctor  McCosh's  straightforward  announcement 
of  his  attitude  toward  evolution  brought  him  at 
once  into  opposition  with  the  conservative  view  as 
expressed  in  the  writings  of  Doctor  Charles  Hodge 
of  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  and  Pro- 
fessor John  T.  Duffield  of  the  college  faculty.  His 
orthodoxy  was  questioned,  but  he  stoutly  main- 
tained his  position,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  in 

202 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

after  years  of  receiving  the  grateful  thanks  of  many 
of  the  students  whom  he  had  saved  from  infidelity 
by  convincing  them  that  a  belief  in  evolution  was 
not  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  faith.  The 
acceptance  of  evolution  as  a  method  of  divine  pro- 
cedure by  a  clergyman  of  his  prominence  caused  a 
great  stir  in  the  public  mind  and  won  over  hosts  of 
doubters.  As  President  Andrew  D.  White  has 
said,  "With  him  began  the  inevitable  compromise, 
and  in  spite  of  mutterings  against  him  as  a  Dar- 
winian, he  carried  the  day." 

After  his  inauguration,  McCosh  immediately  set 
about  putting  his  educational  programme  into  prac- 
tice. New  courses  were  introduced,  but  even  more 
important  was  the  change  in  the  methods  of  teach- 
ing. Freshmen  were  released  from  the  exclusive 
rule  of  tutors  and  were  given  the  benefit  of  profes- 
sorial instruction.  The  sophomore  course  was  en- 
larged, and  electives  were  offered  to  juniors  and 
seniors.  Lectures  supplemented  recitations,  with 
classes  divided  into  small  groups  and  with  frequent 
examinations  and  quizzes.  These  were  conducted 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give  them  an  educational  value. 
Prizes,  scholarships,  and  fellowships  were  established 
as  an  incentive  and  reward  for  intellectual  excel- 
lence and  an  encouragement  for  the  brighter  men 
to  devote  themselves  to  research.  The  college  was 
undergoing  an  intellectual  transformation.  The 
establishment  of  numerous  fellowships  with  oppor- 

203 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

tunities  to  study  both  at  home  and  abroad  built  up 
a  body  of  scholars  who  became  teachers  of  distinc- 
tion not  only  at  Princeton  but  in  numerous  other 
institutions.  The  new  curriculum  was  framed  to 
recognize  all  departments  of  scholarship,  vigorously 
excluding,  however,  all  that  was  fictitious  and  pre- 
tentious. In  like  manner  the  introduction  of  the 
elective  principle  was  carefully  guarded.  Above  all, 
students  were  not  permitted  to  study  "what  they 
pleased,  when  they  pleased,  as  they  pleased."  Un- 
restrained choice  would  simply  hold  out  temptations 
for  the  immature  and  lazy  to  select  an  inchoate 
combination  of  easy  courses.  Doctor  McCosh  in- 
sisted on  the  traditional  Princeton  position  that  there 
were  certain  branches  which  were  indispensable  to 
the  general  development  of  the  mind.  Especially 
did  he  insist  that  every  college  graduate  should  know 
his  mathematics  and  classics,  "the  one  to  solidify 
the  reasoning  powers,  and  the  other  to  refine  the 
taste."  McCosh  welcomed  an  invitation  to  meet 
President  Eliot  in  joint  debate  on  the  two  systems 
for  which  their  respective  institutions  stood.  The 
debate,  held  in  New  York,  attracted  wide  attention. 
It  did  not  settle  the  question,  which,  after  thirty 
years,  is  still  a  matter  of  controversy  among  educa- 
tors, but  it  served  to  bring  out  sharply  the  issues  in- 
volved. 

As  Mr.  Pier  in  his  "  Story  of  Harvard  "  has  pointed 
out,    since    President    Eliot's    time,    Harvard    has 

204 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

modified  its  system  of  instruction,  and  President 
Lowell  is  endeavoring  to  prevent  the  abuse  of  the 
free  elective  principle  "by  curtailing  the  freedom  of 
choice  in  the  first  year  and  by  requiring  of  each 
student  a  coherent  plan  of  studies  instead  of  per- 
mitting him  to  nibble  here  and  there."  After  all 
these  years,  Doctor  McCosh  has  thus  been  vindi- 
cated in  the  home  of  the  free  elective  system. 

Both  in  material  and  intellectual  development 
McCosh's  administration  was  unprecedented  in  the 
history  of  the  college.  While  he  appreciated  the 
necessity  of  physical  equipment,  and  while  the  cam- 
pus was  being  extended  and  new  buildings  con- 
stantly going  up,  he  insisted  that  "the  strength  of 
our  college  lies  in  its  staff  of  professors."  When  he 
came  to  Princeton,  the  entire  teaching  force  num- 
bered sixteen  ;  when  he  retired,  there  were  over  forty 
names  on  the  faculty  roll.  Among  these  names 
were  those  of  stimulating  teachers  who  strongly 
influenced  the  lives  of  five  generations  of  Princeton 
men.  Of  this  body  of  teachers  he  was  always  the 
outstanding  and  dominant  figure.  Francis  Speir, 
'77,  remarks  that  "he  held  his  faculty  up  to  ac- 
count for  what  he  deemed  their  duty  and  he  knew 
what  and  how  each  was  doing."  After  his  inaugu- 
ration, in  rapid  succession  came  the  appointment  of 
such  teachers  as  William  A.  Packard  in  Latin, 
General  Joseph  Karge  in  Continental  languages, 
Cyrus  Fogg  Brackett,  whose  instruction  in  physics 

205 


THE  STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

was  but  a  part  of  his  broader  teaching  in  the  phi- 
losophy of  life ;  Henry  B.  Cornwall  in  chemistry, 
Theodore  W.  Hunt  in  English,  George  Macloskie  in 
natural  history,  James  Ormsby  Murray  in  English, 
Charles  McMillan  in  civil  engineering,  in  astron- 
omy Charles  A.  Young,  who  will  always  be  remem- 
bered by  Princeton  men  of  his  time  as  their  beloved 
"Twinkle";  S.  Stanhope  Orris  in  Greek,  Charles  G. 
Rockwood  in  mathematics,  William  M.  Sloane  in 
Latin  and  later  in  history,  H.  C.  O.  Huss  in  modern 
languages,  George  L.  Raymond  in  oratory,  Samuel 
R.  Winans  in  Greek,  William  B.  Scott,  William 
Libbey,  and  Henry  Fairfield  Osborn  in  natural 
science,  Allan  Marquand  in  art,  Andrew  F.  West 
in  Latin,  Alexander  T.  Ormond  in  philosophy, 
Frederick  N.  Willson  in  technical  drawing,  Alex- 
ander Johnston  in  political  economy,  Francis  Landey 
Patton  in  ethics,  Henry  B.  Fine  in  mathematics, 
William  F.  Magie  in  physics,  Herbert  S.  S.  Smith 
in  civil  engineering,  and  John  H.  Westcott  in  Latin. 
Himself  a  great  teacher,  especially  stimulating 
were  the  Library  Meetings  which  the  president 
established  at  his  home,  where  upper  classmen  came 
together  to  hear  a  paper  by  Doctor  McCosh  or  some 
scholar  from  Princeton  or  elsewhere.  The  paper 
was  followed  by  a  general  discussion,  and  all  who 
had  the  privilege  of  attending  these  meetings  recall 
them  as  having  had  a  profound  influence  upon  their 
lives.  McCosh's  native  humor  enlivened  the  pro- 

206 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

ceedings.  Francis  Speir  recalls  that  at  one  of  the 
meetings  the  president  was  discoursing  on  the  lit- 
erary characters  of  his  student  days  at  Edinburgh. 
In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  said:  "I  have 
drrunk  whuskey  with  men  who  have  drrunk  whuskey 
with  Burrns;"  then,  pausing,  "Um-m-er  —  I  have 
talked  with  men  who  have  drrunk  whuskey  with 
Burrns."  We  always  wondered,  says  Mr.  Speir, 
which  was  the  correct  version.  He  explains  that  in 
America  Doctor  McCosh  was  ever  a  teetotaler. 

Graduate  instruction  was  systematized,  and  defi- 
nite standards  for  the  higher  degrees  were  fixed. 
There  had  been  a  few  students  at  Princeton  pursuing 
advanced  work  as  far  back  as  Witherspoon's  time. 
James  Madison  had  returned  for  a  year  to  con- 
tinue his  studies  under  the  great  war  president ;  but 
the  definite  organization  of  graduate  studies  and 
degrees  under  McCosh  marks  the  real  beginning  of 
the  Graduate  School.  This  was  the  time  of  Doctor 
McCosh's  greatest  influence  as  a  teacher,  and  many 
of  those  who  had  felt  the  stimulus  of  his  classroom 
and  Library  Meetings  were  impelled  to  continue 
their  studies  after  graduation,  which  led  to  distin- 
guished careers  in  scholarship.  Particularly  note- 
worthy was  the  first  geological  expedition  to  the 
West,  on  which  Professors  Brackett  and  Karge  con- 
ducted a  group  of  young  graduates.  Many  fossils 
were  collected,  and  the  success  of  the  expedition  led 
to  others,  through  which  important  geological  col- 

207 


lections  have  been  assembled.  Francis  Speir,  a 
member  of  the  first  expedition,  records  this  anec- 
dote :  "It  was  on  this  trip  that  Doctor  Karge,  one 
of  the  most  delightful  and  kindly  of  men,  a  typical 
Pole,  tried  to  introduce  strict  military  discipline  in 
marching.  His  open  disgust,  eloquently  expressed, 
at  Anglo-Saxon  individualism,  military  discipline 
having  failed,  was  the  cause  of  Doctor  Brackett's 
smiling  comment,  'I  know  now  why  Poland  never 
regained  her  freedom." 

Two  of  the  young  graduates  on  this  expedition 
were  Henry  Fairfield  Osborn  and  William  B.  Scott, 
the  latter  now  the  eminent  geologist  and  the  former 
the  distinguished  president  of  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History. 

Unbounded  was  the  joy  of  the  students  when  the 
Bonner-Marquand  gymnasium  was  opened  the  year 
after  Doctor  McCosh's  arrival  —  the  first  building 
contributed  in  his  administration.  It  was  note- 
worthy not  only  as  a  symbol  of  the  recognition  of 
athletics  on  the  part  of  the  college,  but  particularly 
because  it  contained  bathrooms.  Thus  for  the  first 
time  was  provided  a  means  of  cultivating  that  virtue 
which  is  accounted  next  to  godliness.  Doctor  War- 
field  remarks,  "before  that  the  students  were  ex- 
pected to  bathe  in  their  tooth-mugs."  A  later 
generation,  accustomed  to  the  luxury  of  shower 
baths,  hot  and  cold,  in  all  the  dormitories,  can 
scarcely  appreciate  the  boon  of  even  a  few  narrow 

208 


The  Ck-vi-laiid  Memorial  Tower 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

cells  equipped  with  iron  tubs  in  the  old  gymnasium, 
in  the  use  of  which  the  students  took  their  week- 
end turn  in  competition  not  only  with  the  whole 
college  but  with  the  "Seminoles."  To  be  sure,  it 
was  not  an  unmixed  blessing,  but  in  the  historic 
retrospect  it  was  a  conspicuous  improvement  on  the 
tooth-mug.  The  old  gymnasium  has  been  swept 
away  in  the  march  of  progress,  and  on  its  site  stands 
Campbell  Hall,  the  dormitory  presented  by  the 
class  of  '77,  while  vastly  improved  facilities  for  in- 
door exercise  are  provided  in  the  great  gymnasium 
given  by  the  alumni. 

McCosh  found  that  the  recitation  rooms  were 
"temptations  to  disorder."  Even  with  the  small 
attendance,  so  limited  were  the  facilities  that  some 
of  the  classes  were  held  in  gloomy  cellars  and  attics. 
Doctor  McCosh  recalls  that  sometimes  the  students 
would  take  out  the  stove,  and  when  the  class  met  in 
the  morning  they  cried,  "cold,  cold,"  and  the  pro- 
fessor had  to  dismiss  them.  At  another  time  they 
would  take  the  furniture  out  of  the  room  and  make 
a  bonfire  of  it.  The  need  of  new  recitation  rooms 
was  only  too  evident,  and  in  1870,  Dickinson  Hall 
was  completed. 

The  next  year  a  new  dormitory,  Reunion  Hall, 
was  built  and  named  in  honor  of  the  reunion  of  the 
old  and  new  school  branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Then  in  order  came  the  charming  Chan- 
cellor Green  Library,  the  John  C.  Green  School  of 

209 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

Science  buildings,  Murray  Hall,  the  headquarters  of 
the  Philadelphian  Society ;  University  Hall,  built 
first  as  a  hotel  and  afterward  converted  into  a  dor- 
mitory ;  Witherspoon  Hall,  which  for  years  was 
regarded  as  the  dormitory  de  luxe  of  the  campus  ; 
Edwards  Hall,  another  dormitory ;  the  handsome 
Marquand  Chapel,  the  Biological  Laboratory,  pre- 
sented by  the  class  of  '77,  and  the  Art  Museum. 
In  addition  the  historic  property,  which  since  colonial 
days  had  been  known  as  "Prospect",  was  purchased 
and  presented  to  the  college  as  a  fitting  residence  for 
the  president.  The  large  telescope  had  been  in- 
stalled in  the  Halsted  Observatory,  the  working  ob- 
servatory on  Prospect  Avenue  was  constructed,  and 
houses  for  professors  were  built. 

At  the  close  of  his  administration,  Doctor  McCosh 
said,  "I  remember  the  first  view  which  I  got  of  the 
pleasant  height  on  which  the  college  stands,  the 
highest  ground  between  the  two  great  cities  of  the 
Union,  looking  down  on  a  rich  country,  covered  with 
wheat  and  corn,  with  apples  and  peaches,  resembling 
the  South  of  England  as  much  as  one  country  can 
be  like  another.  Now  we  see  that  height  covered 
with  buildings,  not  inferior  to  those  of  any  other 
college  in  America."  In  his  hours  of  relaxation  the 
president  was  wont  to  plan  the  development  of  the 
campus,  laying  out  grounds  and  walks  and  locating 
buildings.  "I  remember  the  days,"  he  said,  "sun- 
shiny or  cloudy,  in  April  or  November,  on  which  I 

210 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

cut  down  dozens  of  deformed  trees  and  shrubs,  and 
planted  large  numbers  of  new  ones  which  will  live 
when  I  am  dead.  ...  I  said  to  myself  and  I  said 
to  others,  'We  have  a  fine  old  college  here,  with 
many  friends ;  why  should  we  not  make  it  equal 
to  any  college  in  America,  and  in  the  end  to  any  in 
Europe?'  The  friends  of  Princeton  saw  that  I  was 
in  earnest,  and  nobly  did  they  encourage  me.  ...  I 
could  not  walk  up  Broadway  without  some  one 
coming  up  to  me  and  saying,  'Do  you  not  want 
so  and  so  ?  I  will  help  you  to  get  it.' ' 

Under  Doctor  McCosh's  inspiring  leadership,  with 
such  cooperation  as  he  here  describes,  in  the  twenty 
years  of  his  administration  more  buildings  were 
added  to  the  campus  than  all  those  constructed  in 
the  entire  previous  history  of  the  college. 

Benefactions  were  coming  in  as  never  before. 
Of  significant  importance  among  these  was  the  be- 
quest of  John  C.  Green,  who  founded  the  School  of 
Science  which  perpetuates  his  name.  This  step  was 
taken  after  mature  deliberation  and  the  study  of 
similar  schools  at  other  institutions.  Especial  care 
was  taken  to  avoid  the  mistake  of  creating  a  division 
at  Princeton,  either  in  the  curriculum  or  in  the 
campus  associations  of  the  students.  By  making 
the  School  of  Science  not  a  separate  and  distinct 
institution  but  a  coherent  part  of  the  college,  the 
unity  of  undergraduate  life  was  preserved.  While 
the  A.B.  degree  has  always  maintained  its  para- 

211 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

mount  prestige,  those  who  pursue  the  scientific  course 
are  in  no  sense  a  separate  body,  but  both  as  under- 
graduates and  graduates  have  equal  standing  with 
their  fellow  students  and  alumni  of  other  depart- 
ments. 

Those  pursuing  the  newly  established  degrees 
of  Bachelor  of  Science  and  Civil  Engineering  were 
required  to  take  humanistic  studies,  for,  as  Doctor 
McCosh  said  of  the  School  of  Science,  "we  seek 
to  make  its  students  educated  gentlemen  and  not 
merely  scientists." 

There  was  scarcely  a  year  in  Doctor  McCosh's 
administration  that  did  not  show  an  increase  in  en- 
rollment. The  year  before  his  arrival  the  under- 
graduate body  had  numbered  264  and  on  his  retire- 
ment in  1888  it  had  grown  to  603.  A  like  growth  was 
shown  in  the  endowment,  which  increased  from 
$476,000  in  1868  to  $1,443,000  in  1888. 

In  one  respect  at  least  the  McCosh  administration 
was  revolutionary.  Just  as  to  him  Princeton  was 
"my  college",  so  his  students  were  "my  boys", 
and  they  were  to  be  treated  not  as  half-baked  infants 
with  more  bad  than  good  compounded  in  the  baking ; 
not  as  natural  enemies,  but  as  responsible  compan- 
ions in  a  common  cause.  This  did  not  mean  that  the 
faculty  function  ended  with  instruction  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, Doctor  McCosh  enforced  his  conviction  that 
both  he  and  his  colleagues  stood  in  the  place  of  par- 
ents toward  his  boys  and  were  responsible  for  the  de- 

212 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

velopment  of  character  as  well  as  intellect.  But 
with  kindergarten  discipline  he  had  no  patience.  He 
abhorred  the  spy  system,  declaring  that  "our  officers 
do  not  peep  in  at  windows  or  through  keyholes." 
Faculty  meetings  were  no  longer  chiefly  occupied 
with  the  consideration  of  trivial  offenses  against  the 
college  laws,  but  rather  with  the  larger  questions  of 
the  new  era  of  development. 

In  Doctor  McCosh's  relations  with  the  students, 
everything  was  open  and  aboveboard.  All  the  cards 
were  on  the  table.  He  understood  young  men,  and 
he  knew  that  underhand  methods  would  be  resented. 
He  showed  his  sympathy  for  them  in  their  work  and 
in  their  play,  and  he  thus  enlisted  their  confidence 
and  support.  Nevertheless,  when  such  measures 
failed,  he  knew  how  to  be  stern  and  immovable  in 
this  as  in  other  respects.  He  made  war  on  Rakes, 
horn-sprees,  hazing,  and  secret  societies.  On  one 
occasion  a  number  of  students  were  suspended 
for  smoking  out  a  freshman.  This  action  raised  an 
incipient  rebellion  on  the  campus.  While  a  delega- 
tion of  the  students  waited  on  the  president  on  behalf 
of  those  suspended,  a  great  crowd  gathered  outside 
the  conference  room.  McCosh  looked  out  of  the 
window  and  saw  the  crowd,  as  he  reports,  "like  a 
thunder  cloud  on  the  campus  threatening  rebellion." 
He  acted  with  characteristic  vigor.  He  told  the 
delegation  to  go  out  and  inform  their  fellow  students 
that  they  were  to  pass  a  resolution  condemning  smok- 

213 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

ing  out.  McCosh  then  went  out  on  the  campus 
and  passed  the  crowd  on  his  way  home.  By  his 
message  and  his  presence,  they  were  overawed  and 
soon  dispersed.  The  walkout  they  had  planned  for 
chapel  that  afternoon  was  indefinitely  postponed. 
It  was  by  such  resolute  action  as  this  that  he  also 
stamped  out  Greek  letter  fraternities,  which,  despite 
the  rules  against  them,  had  continued  to  exist  sub 
rosa.  Students  who  were  found  to  have  violated 
their  pledges  not  to  join  such  societies  were  sent  home, 
but  were  allowed  to  return  on  promising  to  give  up 
their  membership. 

In  1883  Doctor  McCosh  was  relieved  of  the  burden 
of  administering  discipline  by  the  appointment  of 
Professor  James  Ormsby  Murray  as  dean  of  the 
college,  —  the  first  deanship.  Despite  his  invidious 
office,  the  memory  of  Dean  Murray  will  ever  be 
warmly  cherished  by  the  students  of  the  eighties  and 
nineties. 

McCosh  believed  in  the  physical  development  of 
his  students  not  only  as  a  means  of  health  but  also 
because  it  fostered  "habits  of  mental  agility  and 
self-possession  ...  of  great  use  in  preparing  young 
men  for  the  active  duties  of  life."  But  he  was  one  of 
the  first  to  see  and  deplore  the  abuses  arising  from  com- 
petitive sports,  and  he  used  the  weight  of  his  office  to 
prevent  the  evil  while  preserving  the  good  in  athletics. 
He  condemned  the  public  applause  which  fosters 
false  standards,  declaring  that  "your  strutting  col- 

214 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

lege  heroes  may  consist  of  men  who  have  merely 
powerful  arms  and  legs."  He  sternly  warned  the 
students  against  the  sacrifice  to  athletics  of  time 
which  should  be  given  to  studies,  against  betting  and 
drinking,  and  against  the  cultivation  of  "the  manners 
of  a  bully  or  a  jockey  rather  than  of  a  scholar  or  a 
cultivated  gentleman."  He  condemned  athletics 
by  proxy.  Twice  he  attempted  to  bring  the  colleges 
to  an  agreement,  whereby  the  good  in  athletics  might 
be  preserved  without  the  accompanying  evils.  He 
found  that  the  colleges  were  willing  to  unite  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  "who  trade  upon  their  gymnastic 
eminence  to  gain  students."  These,  however, 
blocked  the  action  he  so  earnestly  desired,  but  at  the 
end  of  his  administration  he  was  still  encouraging 
reformation  and  demanding  that  the  position  each 
college  took  should  be  publicly  known.  As  for  his 
own  college,  he  declared  "let  Princeton  proclaim 
that  her  reputation  does  not  depend  on  her  skill  in 
throwing  or  kicking  a  ball,  but  on  the  scholarship  and 
virtue  of  her  sons." 

Doctor  McCosh  loved  sport,  but  he  wanted  it  kept 
clean,  and  he  wanted  it  kept  in  its  proper  place.  He 
was  particularly  fond  of  a  good  horse,  and  was  him- 
self a  good  horseman.  As  a  young  pastor,  he  rode 
from  place  to  place  with  his  saddlebag  packed  with 
sermons,  and  when  he  came  to  America,  he  liked  to 
ride  behind  a  thoroughbred.  On  one  occasion  he 
was  visiting  Robert  Bonner,  in  whom,  as  a  lover  of 

215 


THE   STORY   OF  PRINCETON 

horses,  he  found  a  congenial  companion.  Mr. 
Bonner  took  Doctor  McCosh  for  a  drive  through 
Central  Park  behind  the  celebrated  Maud  S.  The 
newspapers  recorded  the  incident,  reporting  that  the 
mile  had  been  covered  in  2.06.  The  next  day  when 
Doctor  McCosh  returned  to  Princeton,  a  member  of 
the  faculty  remarked  to  him,  "I  see  you  have  been 
riding  behind  Maud  S  and  that  she  made  2.06." 

"2.04!"    was  Doctor  McCosh's  only  rejoinder. 

It  may  have  been  on  this  occasion  that  Doctor 
McCosh,  who  made  it  a  rule  never  to  ask  directly  for 
money  for  the  college,  remarked  significantly  to  Mr. 
Bonner,  "We  are  needing  a  gymnasium  at  Prince- 
ton." At  all  events  the  Bonner-Marquand  gymna- 
sium was  presented  soon  afterward. 

Doctor  McCosh  always  welcomed  the  students  and 
their  parents  to  his  home.  He  liked  to  talk  to  his 
boys  on  the  campus  and  visit  them  in  their  rooms. 
It  is  related  that  once,  when  he  knocked  at  a  dormi- 
tory door,  the  student  shouted,  "Who's  there?" 
"It's  me,  Doctor  McCosh,"  came  the  answer.  With- 
out opening  the  door,  the  student  yelled,  "I  know 
better.  Doctor  McCosh  would  not  say,  'It's  me.": 

Doctor  McCosh  knew  his  boys,  even  if  he  could  not 
always  remember  their  names.  "I  know  ye,"  he 
would  say  —  "at  least  within  one  or  two  of  ye." 
The  students  liked  to  hear  his  lowland  Scotch  speech 
and  would  lay  traps  to  bring  out  some  of  his  char- 
acteristic remarks.  Meeting  an  undergraduate  one 

216 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

day  on  the  campus,  he  said,  "I  know  ye,  and  I  know 
your  father.  How  is  his  health  ?" 

"I  am  sorry  to  tell  you,  Doctor,  that  he  is  dead," 
was  the  reply.  Walking  around  a  dormitory,  the 
student  accosted  the  Doctor  again.  Thinking  he 
was  another  of  his  boys,  Doctor  McCosh  greeted  him 
with  the  same  remark  :  "  I  know  ye,  and  I  know  your 
father.  How  is  his  health  ?" 

"He's  still  dead,  Doctor,"  came  the  premeditated 
reply. 

In  those  days  Princeton  was  in  a  real  sense  a 
large  family,  with  President  and  Mrs.  McCosh  as 
the  head  of  the  household.  Their  home  was  the 
social  center  of  the  community.  The  lives  of  Presi- 
dent and  Mrs.  McCosh  were  wholly  given  up  to  the 
advancement  of  the  college  and  the  welfare  of  the 
students.  To  the  assistance  of  her  distinguished 
husband  Mrs.  McCosh  brought  gentle  breeding, 
intelligent  cultivation,  marked  ability  in  household 
management,  a  strong  will,  and  a  warm  and 
sympathetic  heart  —  qualities  which  were  of  inesti- 
mable value  in  her  position  as  the  wife  of  the  presi- 
dent. She  mothered  the  students  and  especially 
in  sickness  were  her  sympathetic  attentions  mani- 
fested. The  Isabella  McCosh  Infirmary,  built  and 
equipped  chiefly  by  the  beneficiaries  of  her  gentle 
ministrations,  is  a  fitting  memorial  of  this  saintly 
woman. 

McCosh's  straightforward  manner  in  all  his  rela- 
217 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

tions  with  his  boys  called  out  their  manly  qualities 
and  gave  rise  to  a  public  opinion  on  the  campus 
which  made  powerfully  for  the  best  things.  It  uni- 
fied and  democratized  the  college.  It  strengthened 
teamwork,  whether  on  the  athletic  field  or  in  support 
of  honest  and  clean  standards  of  conduct.  Even 
the  traditional  enmity  for  the  faculty  was  minimized. 
This  spirit  of  mutual  trust  and  cooperation  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  Conference  Committee  to  represent 
the  students  in  consultation  with  the  faculty,  the 
forerunner  of  the  present  Senior  Council.  While 
scholarship  was  always  emphasized  as  of  first  impor- 
tance, the  students  were  encouraged  toward  inde- 
pendence in  thought  and  action.  Energy  which  had 
formerly  been  wasted  in  petty  mischief  or  vicious 
habits  was  turned  to  channels  of  self-development. 

To  the  single  campus  publication  that  had  sur- 
vived, The  Nassau  Literary  Magazine,  were  added 
the  college  newspaper,  The  Princetonian;  the  cam- 
pus jester,  The  Tiger ;  and  the  compendia  of  the  col- 
lege year,  The  Nassau  Herald  and  The  Bric-a-Brac, 
all  of  which  have  since  continued  to  flourish.  The 
Glee  Club  and  the  Dramatic  Association  began  per- 
manent careers.  The  Philadelphian  Society  was 
supplemented  by  the  St.  Paul's  Society,  and  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  the  extension  of 
Christianity  in  foreign  lands,  which  has  now  grown 
to  great  proportions,  had  its  birth  on  the  Princeton 
campus  in  Doctor  McCosh's  day. 

218 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

But  if  life  at  Princeton  was  earnest,  it  was  not 
solemn.  The  seniors  sang  their  glees  light-heartedly 
and  with  much  less  formality  than  now.  The  bubble 
of  pretension  was  unceremoniously  pricked,  and  if 
the  ever  prevalent  campus  raillery  did  not  reduce 
swelled  heads,  they  seldom  survived  the  satire  of 
Washington's  Birthday  or  Class  Day.  Neither 
students  nor  faculty  could  long  take  themselves  too 
seriously  in  such  an  atmosphere. 

A  visiting  chapel  preacher  concluded  a  long  prayer 
with  petitions  for  all  the  college  officers.  When  he 
had  finished  with  the  president,  the  trustees  and  the 
professors,  and  finally  prayed  for  the  tutors,  the  long- 
suffering  students  could  not  repress  a  muffled  cheer. 
At  the  faculty  meeting  afterward,  when  the  disorder 
in  chapel  was  mentioned  as  a  matter  calling  for  dis- 
cipline, Doctor  McCosh  curtly  disposed  of  the  criti- 
cism with  the  remark,  "He  should  have  had  more 
sense  than  to  pray  for  the  tutors." 

On  another  occasion  General  Karge  had  asked  the 
president  to  announce  at  morning  chapel  a  change 
of  hour  for  the  General's  class  in  German.  Doctor 
McCosh  forgot  to  make  the  announcement  till  it 
suddenly  occurred  to  him  during  his  closing  prayer. 
Thereupon  he  interpolated  a  petition  for  "General 
Karge,  whose  class  in  German  will  meet  this  morning 
at  nine  instead  of  nine-thirty." 

From  the  first  Doctor  McCosh  appreciated  the  im- 
portance of  the  alumni.  He  recognized  that  the  rural 

219 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

college  to  which  he  had  come,  with  neither  state  aid 
nor  the  local  pride  of  a  large  city  to  depend  upon  for 
support,  must  look  to  the  loyalty  of  its  graduates. 
He  encouraged  them  to  keep  in  close  touch  with  the 
college  and  urged  that  they  should  come  back  to 
Princeton  as  often  as  possible.  He  traveled  far  and 
wide  to  visit  them,  stimulating  their  loyalty  and  es- 
tablishing alumni  associations.  He  brought  to  them 
encouraging  reports  of  the  progress  of  the  college 
and  returned  from  these  visits  with  valuable  hints  of 
what  the  graduates  expected  of  their  alma  mater. 
In  1886  he  proposed  that  they  should  appoint  an 
advisory  committee  to  visit  the  classrooms  at  Prince- 
ton and  to  make  recommendations  to  the  board  of 
trustees.  This  proposal  bore  fruit  several  years 
later  when  the  Graduate  Council  was  organized,  a 
representative  body  which  is  carrying  out  McCosh's 
pioneer  ideas,  and  which  has  added  largely  to  the 
funds  of  the  university.  Chiefly  through  the  influ- 
ence of  graduates  of  his  administration,  in  1900  the 
alumni  were  granted  direct  representation  in  the 
board  of  trustees. 

McCosh's  administration  marked  the  real  be- 
ginning of  effectively  organized  alumni  support  on 
a  comprehensive  scale.  By  the  time  of  his  retire- 
ment, alumni  associations  in  various  centers  had  been 
organized  to  the  number  of  nearly  a  score,  and  this 
work  of  organization  has  continued  until  there  are 
now  over  fifty  associations,  whose  territory  com- 

220 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

prehends  the  entire  country.  In  this  valuable  work 
of  quickening  the  interest  of  their  fellow  alumni,  a 
host  of  Doctor  McCosh's  graduates  have  stood  out 
as  conspicuous  leaders.  Where  praise  is  due  so 
many,  it  is  nevertheless  not  invidious  to  mention 
that  exemplar  of  alumni  loyalty,  upon  whom  Doctor 
McCosh  learned  to  lean  for  support  and  assistance 
in  his  plans  for  the  development  of  Princeton  —  M. 
Taylor  Pyne,  '77.  A  pioneer  in  alumni  work,  early 
chosen  by  Doctor  McCosh  for  membership  in  the 
board  of  trustees,  for  many  years  Mr.  Pyne  has  made 
his  home  in  the  shadow  of  his  alma  mater,  whose 
service  has  ever  been  his  first  interest  in  a  life  of 
large  responsibilities. 

Though  still  vigorous  in  body  and  mind  at  seventy- 
seven,  advancing  age  impelled  Doctor  McCosh  to 
resign  the  presidency  in  1888.  It  was  universally 
recognized  that  his  administration  of  twenty  years 
had  been  the  most  successful  in  the  history  of  the 
college.  His  interest  in  the  institution  was  unabated 
in  his  retirement,  but,  as  his  successor  so  aptly  said, 
"He  was  more  than  a  model  President.  He  was  a 
model  Ex-President."  Booth  Tarkington,  '93,  re- 
calling the  older  men  of  the  faculty  who  were  looked 
upon  with  veneration  by  the  students  of  the  early 
nineties,  reflects  their  feelings  toward  Doctor  McCosh 
in  his  declining  years  in  this  characterization  : 

New  ivies  grow  on  Nassau  Hall,  but  the  older  vines 
cling  to  it  even  more  strongly,  and  so  do  the  older  mem- 

221 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

ories.  Most  august,  and,  in  its  gentle  way,  ghostliest  of 
these,  is  that  of  the  delicate  and  tremulous  figure,  so  very, 
very  old  and  fragile,  taking  the  air  and  slowly  shuffling 
homeward  in  the  late  afternoon  under  the  groinings  of 
McCosh  Walk,  —  his  own  Walk.  WTe  used  to  slow  our 
steps  to  a  creep  and  go  with  him  part  of  the  way,  until 
we  feared  that  the  questions  he  asked  us  over  and  over 
might  be  tiring  him. 

We  who  were  then  undergraduates  will  never  forget 
that  night  of  November  16,  1894,  when  the  stillness 
of  the  campus  was  broken  by  the  tolling  of  the  college 
bell,  bringing  to  us  the  poignant  realization  that  we 
would  never  again  see  that  revered  figure,  sitting  in 
the  sunshine,  as  we  had  so  often  seen  him,  under  the 
arching  elms  of  McCosh  Walk,  or  taking  his  daily 
stroll  down  to  the  'varsity  field,  or  out  in  the  pleasant 
countryside.  And  when  his  own  boys  came  back  to 
join  with  bowed  heads  in  the  simple  ceremony  which 
marked  his  burial  in  the  old  Witherspoon  cemetery, 
we  of  a  younger  generation  understood  something 
of  the  loyalty  and  devotion  which  he  had  inspired, 
and  which  is  reflected  in  this  tribute  by  one  of  his 
boys,  Robert  Bridges,  '79 : 

Young  to  the  end,  through  sympathy  with  youth, 
Gray  man  of  learning  !  champion  of  truth  ! 
Direct  in  rugged  speech,  alert  in  mind, 
He  felt  his  kinship  with  all  human  kind, 
And  never  feared  to  trace  development 
Of  high  from  low  —  assured  and  full  content 
That  man  paid  homage  to  the  Mind  above, 
Uplifted  by  the  "Royal  Law  of  Love." 
222 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

The  laws  of  nature  that  he  loved  to  trace, 
Have  worked,  at  last,  to  veil  from  us  his  face ; 
The  dear  old  elms  and  ivy-covered  walls 
Will  miss  his  presence,  and  the  stately  halls 
His  trumpet-voice;    while  in  their  joys 
Sorrow  will  shadow  those  he  called  "my  boys." 


223 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    UNIVERSITY 

THE  type  of  university  Princeton  was  to  become 
had  been  foreshadowed  in  the  charter  from 
the  first,  and  though  for  many  lean  years  the  plan 
had  been  lost  sight  of,  the  great  awakening  and  de- 
velopment of  the  McCosh  administration  had  finally 
determined  that  Princeton  was  not  to  remain  merely 
a  good  rural  college.  The  college,  however,  was  to 
remain  its  chief  aim  and  concern  and  was  not  to  be 
submerged  in  a  collection  of  professional  and  techni- 
cal schools.  The  genius  of  the  place  made  logical 
and  indeed  inevitable  the  development  of  an  insti- 
tution devoted  to  pure  learning,  with  emphasis  in 
carrying  out  the  university  idea  upon  the  liberal 
phases  of  those  studies  which  afford  a  solid  founda- 
tion for  and  give  breadth  to  technical  and  professional 
training. 

If  the  McCosh  administration  marked  a  trans- 
formation from  the  small  college  to  the  potential 
university,  even  more  marked  has  been  the  growth 
in  the  twenty-nine  years  since  his  retirement.  There 
are  now  more  than  two  and  a  half  times  the  number 

224 


of  students  there  were  at  the  close  of  his  administra- 
tion in  1888,  and  the  endowment  has  increased  nearly 
fourfold.  The  buildings  have  grown  from  nineteen 
to  over  fifty,  not  including  about  thirty  buildings 
devoted  to  athletic  equipment,  student  clubs,  etc. 
The  campus  has  been  extended  from  fifty-five  to  more 
than  seven  hundred  acres.  Along  with  this  material 
development  has  come  a  great  increase  in  the  faculty, 
the  teaching  force  having  grown  from  forty  to  over 
two  hundred.  While  Princeton  and  her  friends  can 
take  great  pride  in  these  figures  of  unprecedented 
growth,  the  plans  for  university  development  have 
constantly  involved  new  financial  problems  which 
make  the  endowment  altogether  inadequate  to  the 
needs. 

All  three  of  Doctor  McCosh's  successors  in  the 
presidency  were  members  of  the  faculty,  and  two  of 
them,  Presidents  Wilson  and  Hibben,  had  been  his 
pupils.  The  Reverend  Doctor  Francis  Landey 
Patton,  his  immediate  successor,  was  elected  to  the 
presidency  in  the  spring  of  1888  and  inaugurated 
June  20  of  that  year.  He  was  forty-five  years  of 
age  at  his  accession,  having  been  born  in  Bermuda 
in  1843.  Educated  at  Toronto  University  and 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  after  brief  pastor- 
ates he  had  joined  the  faculty  of  McCormick 
Theological  Seminary,  and  in  1881  had  returned  as 
a  professor  in  the  Princeton  Seminary.  Since  1884 
he  had  also  been  professor  of  ethics  in  the  college. 

225 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

In  congratulating  Princeton  on  the  election  of  the 
new  president,  Doctor  McCosh  said:  "With  unri- 
valed dialectic  skill  he  will  ever  be  ready  to  defend 
the  truth."  It  was  that  "  unrivaled  dialectic  skill  " 
for  which  Doctor  Patton  was  preeminently  known 
and  which  was  to  become  indelibly  associated  with 
his  presidency,  in  the  minds  of  his  students ;  and 
by  them  he  will  always  be  remembered  as  a  speaker 
without  a  peer. 

The  alumni  of  his  time  can  but  feel  sorry  for  a 
college  generation  that  knows  not  Doctor  Patton. 
The  modern  students  enjoy  many  and  great  advan- 
tages, but  can  they  comprehend  what  Job  Hedges, 
'84,  meant  when  he  said  of  Doctor  Patton  that  he  was 
an  "acquired  taste"  ?  And  can  they  be  expected  to 
appreciate  the  remark  of  Booth  Tarkington,  '93  ? 
"Of  Doctor  Patton,  for  revered  example,  I  doubt  if 
one  of  us  could  have  imagined  his  mother  addressing 
him  with  any  assurance,  even  in  his  childhood,  by 
his  first  name."  For  while  he  always  held  our  rever- 
ential and  even  affectionate  respect,  he  was  to  us 
an  entity  far  removed,  inhabiting  a  higher  sphere ; 
he  seemed  to  live  and  move  and  have  his  being  in 
that  incomprehensible  abstraction  which  incom- 
prehensible philosophers  had  described  to  us  as 
fourth  dimensional  space  —  indeed  an  atmosphere 
so  rare  as  to  be  entirely  devoid  of  categories  of  time 
or  space  and  to  transcend  all  mundane  things.  It  was 
only  when  he  was  not  within  our  sight  or  even  our 

226 


The  Gymnasium 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

hearing  that  we  dared  give  vent  to  our  unbounded 
admiration  in  the  crude  and  altogether  inadequate 
verse  with  which  we  always  began  the  Faculty 
Song  —  a  performance  on  the  steps  at  senior  singing, 
which  is  now  hoary  with  tradition,  but  which  origi- 
nated in  Doctor  Patton's  time,  with  this  as  the 
starter : 

Here's  to  Frank  Patton  our  President, 
In  Princeton  College  he's  pitched  his  tent, 
And  now  he's  the  boss  of  this  wonderful  show, 
Hooray  for  Francis  Landey,  O  ! 

To  have  yelled  that  to  his  face  as  we  did  behind 
his  back  would  have  suffocated  us  with  mortification. 
We  did  not  then  appreciate  how,  if  he  ever'happened 
to  hear  it  in  the  cloistered  walls  of  "Prospect",  he 
must  have  chortled  ;  even  though  we  ought  to  have 
known  it,  for  assuredly  even  the  dullest  of  us  who 
sat  spellbound  by  his  sermons  and  lectures  must 
have  realized  that  his  love  of  humor  was  not  surpassed 
even  by  his  "dialectic  skill." 

It  was  a  later  generation  that  dared  to  bring 
peanuts  into  his  classroom,  to  crack  and  eat  them, 
instead  of  appreciating  the  privilege  they  would  never 
have  again,  of  listening  to  such  marvelous  lectures 
on  ethics.  For  a  time  Doctor  Patton  good-naturedly 
endured  the  annoyance,  but  when  he  could  endure  it 
no  longer,  he  as  good-naturedly  put  a  stop  to  it  by 
remarking  in  his  whimsical  way  that  if  the  students 
who  chose  to  attend  his  lectures  wished  to  make  of 

227 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

them  an  afternoon  tea,  he  would  be  obliged  if  they 
would  substitute  sponge  cake  for  peanuts. 

On  another  occasion  Doctor  Patton  showed  that 
he  knew  how  to  use  grim  humor  in  dealing  with 
undergraduates.  It  was  at  the  end  of  the  term,  and 
the  dreaded  examination  in  ethics  was  due.  In  the 
multiplicity  of  his  administrative  duties,  this  par- 
ticular examination  had  escaped  his  memory,  and 
when  the  class  came  together  for  the  ordeal,  there 
was  no  one  to  give  the  examination.  Under  these 
welcome  circumstances  it  was  customary,  on  the  last 
tap  of  the  college  bell,  for  the  students  to  disperse 
hilariously,  and  if  they  could  get  away  before  the 
examiner  appeared,  they  incurred  no  penalty  at  the 
registrar's  office.  But  there  were  a  few  earnest  souls 
in  that  class  with  an  overweening  desire  to  perform 
works  of  supererogation,  —  a  doctrine  for  which 
they  had  certainly  found  no  justification  in  Doctor 
Patton's  lectures.  As  the  bell  was  approaching  the 
last  stroke,  these  earnest  souls  dashed  over  to  "Pros- 
pect" and  jogged  the  president's  memory.  Aroused 
to  retaliation  by  the  stupidity  of  students  who  did 
not  have  the  gumption  to  improve  such  a  brilliant 
opportunity,  President  Patton  arrived  just  as  the 
class  were  flocking  out,  called  them  back,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  give  them  an  examination  sufficiently 
comprehensive  to  exhaust  the  mental  and  physical 
resources  of  the  most  callous  "poler."  Seizing  a 
piece  of  chalk,  he  wrote  question  after  question  of  a 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

most  searching  character,  until  all  the  blackboards  in 
the  room  were  covered.  Needless  to  say,  when  the 
registrar's  reports  came  out,  the  mortality  was  ap- 
palling. Even  in  Fine's  algebra  or  McCay's  chemistry 
the  number  of  "  flunks  "  had  seldom  been  equaled. 

It  was  always  a  source  of  regret  to  Doctor  Patton 
that  defective  vision  prevented  him  from  recognizing 
his  students,  and  even  his  colleagues  of  the  faculty, 
when  he  met  them  on  the  campus  or  the  streets. 
Failing  one  day  to  recognize  one  of  his  own  sons,  who 
had  accosted  him  on  the  street,  he  remarked  apologet- 
ically, "Your  face  is  familiar,  but  I  do  not  recall 
your  name." 

The  first  important  development  of  the  Patton 
administration  was  the  revision  of  the  curriculum. 
This  revision  preserved  the  traditional  required 
studies,  but  provided  for  a  marked  increase  in  elec- 
tive subjects,  with  a  view  to  permitting  students 
to  cultivate  their  special  aptitudes  in  the  two  upper 
years,  and  enable  those  destined  for  the  professions 
to  begin  laying  the  foundation  for  their  special  fields. 
While  the  plan  aimed  at  intelligent  choice  of  related 
subjects,  in  its  operation  it  opened  the  way  for  the 
making  of  schedules  along  the  line  of  least  resistance, 
and  demonstrated  that  only  the  more  earnest  and 
mature  students  could  be  trusted  to  avoid  the  pit- 
falls of  an  unsupervised  elective  plan.  It  should  be 
said,  in  this  connection,  that  Doctor  Patton  advo- 
cated in  the  first  year  of  his  administration  the  plan 

229 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

of  assisted  electives  which  has  since  been  adopted 
as  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  Princeton  course 
of  study. 

The  requirements  for  higher  degrees  were  also 
raised  and  standardized,  and  in  1889  the  School  of 
Electrical  Engineering  was  opened,  offering  a  gradu- 
ate course  of  two  years,  for  the  completion  of  which 
the  degree  of  electrical  engineer  was  conferred. 
The  previous  year  the  Seventy-seven  Biological 
Laboratory  had  been  opened  and  in  1893  the  two 
marble  buildings  of  the  American  Whig  and  Clio- 
sophic  Societies,  replacing  on  the  same  sites  the 
wooden  structures  which  had  been  erected  half  a 
century  before,  were  completed.  This  period  of 
building  was  also  marked  by  the  erection  of  four  dor- 
mitories, Dod  and  Brown  Halls,  and  Upper  and 
Lower  Pyne ;  the  Chemical  Laboratory,  Alexander 
Hall,  as  an  auditorium  for  Commencement  and  other 
large  university  gatherings ;  the  Isabella  McCosh 
Infirmary,  a  memorial  to  Mrs.  McCosh ;  and  the 
Brokaw  Memorial  building,  with  its  swimming  tank 
and  locker  rooms,  and  the  playground  for  the  general 
use  of  the  students  —  a  memorial  to  Frederick  Brokaw, 
'92,  who  lost  his  life  at  Elberon,  New  Jersey,  in  en- 
deavoring to  rescue  a  drowning  girl. 

The  most  impressive  academic  festival  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  college  was  the  celebration  in  1896  of  the 
one  hundred  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  granting  of 
Princeton's  first  charter.  The  occasion  was  marked 

230 


THE  UNIVERSITY 

by  the  raising  of  a  large  endowment,  the  festival  in 
celebration  of  the  sesquicentennial  of  the  founding 
of  the  college,  and  the  change  of  its  corporate  title 
to  Princeton  University.  Invitations  to  the  celebra- 
tion were  accepted  by  over  a  hundred  institutions 
of  learning  and  learned  societies  of  this  and  other 
countries,  and  this  great  gathering  of  distinguished 
scholars  set  a  new  mark  in  academic  festivals  of 
America.  During  the  week  preceding  the  celebra- 
tion, six  courses  of  public  lectures  were  given  at 
Princeton  by  eminent  European  scholars.  President 
and  Mrs.  Cleveland  were  special  guests  of  the  cele- 
bration and  reviewed  from  the  steps  of  Nassau  Hall 
a  huge  torchlight  procession  of  undergraduates  and 
alumni  over  a  mile  in  length,  which  was  headed  by  a 
delegation  of  twenty-five  Yale  students.  On  the 
anniversary  day,  October  22,  the  ceremonies  culmi- 
nated in  President  Patton's  formal  announcement  of 
the  adoption  of  the  university  title  and  an  address 
of  national  significance  by  President  Cleveland. 

This  visit  of  President  and  Mrs.  Cleveland  led  to 
their  choice  of  Princeton  as  their  home  after  the  close 
of  his  second  administration  in  1897. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cleveland  named  their  Princeton 
home  "Westland"  in  hbnor  of  Professor  West,  who 
had  taken  the  lead  in  raising  the  sesquicentennial 
endowment  fund,  and  whose  resourceful  genius 
gave  such  unique  distinction  to  the  celebration. 
It  was  also  in  the  constructive  mind  of  Professor 

231 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

West  that  the  Graduate  College  idea  originated, 
and  to  his  untiring  zeal  and  devotion  through  years 
of  discouragement  Princeton  owes  its  residential 
college  for  graduate  students.  First  broached  at 
the  time  of  the  sesquicentennial,  the  project  received 
from  time  to  time  the  approving  attention  of  the 
university  authorities,  but  for  lack  of  the  necessary 
endowment,  the  consummation  of  the  plan  was  de- 
layed for  several  years. 

The  Graduate  College  was  projected  to  provide  a 
place  of  common  residence  for  graduate  students,  a 
residence  of  such  dignity  as  to  be  compatible  with 
the  high  aims  to  which  these  students  were  devoting 
themselves.  Instead  of  the  isolated  existence  they 
led,  largely  cut  off  from  the  life  of  the  campus, 
occupying  lodgings  scattered  throughout  the  town 
and  taking  their  meals  in  boarding  houses,  the 
Graduate  College  would  provide  for  them  a  suitable 
residence  where  they  could  lodge  and  take  their 
meals  in  pleasant  surroundings,  and  where,  living  a 
homogeneous  life,  they  could  have  the  advantages  of 
associating  with  men  of  like  interests  and  aims.  It 
was,  in  an  even  more  concrete  way,  the  opening  to 
graduate  students  of  the  advantages  the  Princeton 
undergraduates  had  always  enjoyed.  It  was  a  new 
idea  in  American  graduate  student  life  and  both  at 
Princeton  and  elsewhere  it  received  the  warmest 
commendation.  When  in  1901  the  graduate  depart- 
ment was  reorganized  as  the  Graduate  School, 

232 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

Professor  West's  election  by  the  trustees  as  its 
first  dean  was  an  appropriate  recognition  of  his 
leadership  in  the  organization  and  advancement 
of  the  higher  studies. 

From  the  sesquicentennial  anniversary  dates  also 
the  introduction  in  America  of  English  collegiate 
Gothic  architecture,  which  has  become  character- 
istic of  Princeton.  Planned  at  the  time  of  the 
one  hundred  fiftieth  anniversary,  the  following 
year  Blair  Hall,  with  its  massive  tower,  and  the 
handsome  University  Library  building  were  con- 
structed, the  first  of  the  Princeton  buildings  of  that 
attractive  type.  Blair  was  followed  two  years 
later  by  the  adjoining  dormitory,  Stafford  Little 
Hall,  in  the  same  style,  and  since  then  nearly  all  of 
the  university  buildings  have  conformed  to  the 
Gothic  architecture.  In  1900  The  Princeton  Alumni 
Weekly  was  inaugurated  under  the  editorship  of 
Jesse  Lynch  Williams,  '92,  and,  now  in  its  seven- 
teenth year,  has  a  circulation  among  practically 
all  of  the  alumni  of  the  university. 

As  the  spokesman  of  the  alumni,  one  of  the 
first  things  taken  up  and  vigorously  advocated  by 
The  Alumni  Weekly  was  direct  alumni  representation 
in  the  board  of  trustees.  The  membership  of  the 
governing  board  was  already  composed  largely  of 
Princeton  graduates,  but  they  were  elected  by  the 
board  itself  and  were  therefore  not  the  direct  rep- 
resentatives of  the  alumni.  Plans  for  alumni  rep- 

233 


THE   STORY   OF   PRINCETON 

resentation  were  promulgated  by  the  Princeton 
Club  of  New  York  and  the  Western  Association  of 
Princeton  Clubs,  and  a  combination  of  these  plans 
was  adopted  by  the  trustees  in  the  autumn  of  1900. 
The  plan  adopted  gave  to  graduates  the  privilege  of 
electing  five  additional  members  of  the  board  as 
alumni  trustees,  each  to  serve  for  five  years,  and 
to  be  eligible  for  reelection.  One  alumni  trustee 
is  elected  at  each  Commencement,  graduates  of 
ten  years'  standing  being  eligible  to  the  office,  and 
graduates  of  not  less  than  three  years'  standing  con- 
stituting the  electors. 

Doctor  Patton  resigned  the  presidency  at  the 
Commencement  of  1902  after  fourteen  years  of 
service.  He  continued  in  the  Stuart  Professorship  of 
Ethics  and  the  Philosophy  of  Religion,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year  he  accepted  the  presidency 
of  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  In  1913  he 
retired  from  active  service,  resigning  both  the  semi- 
nary presidency  and  his  chair  in  the  university,  and 
in  the  following  spring  returned  to  his  early  home 
in  Bermuda.  His  departure  was  the  occasion  of 
farewell  dinners  in  his  honor,  given  by  the  faculty  and 
the  alumni,  and  he  carried  with  him  the  affectionate 
regard  of  all  his  Princeton  students  and  colleagues. 

During  Doctor  Patton's  administration  the  student 
enrollment  was  more  than  doubled,  and  the  faculty  was 
increased  from  forty  to  one  hundred,  the  additions 
including  two  professors  who  followed  him  in  the 

234 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

presidency,  Woodrow  Wilson,  '79,  and  John  Grier 
Hibben,  '82. 

The  crowning  achievement  of  Doctor  Patton's 
administration  was  the  adoption  in  the  winter  of 
1893  of  the  Honor  System  in  examinations,  which 
Princeton  prizes  among  her  most  precious  posses- 
sions. It  is  a  high  tribute  to  the  spirit  which  per- 
vaded the  campus  in  Doctor  Patton's  time  that  this 
movement  sprang  spontaneously  from  the  students 
themselves.  As  at  most  other  American  colleges,  all 
examinations  had  been  supervised  by  members 
of  the  faculty,  who  had  as  a  matter  of  course  kept  a 
watchful  eye  upon  the  students  to  detect  any  attempt 
to  cheat.  Under  such  a  system  it  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  one's  sense  of  honor  would  be  partic- 
ularly acute,  or  that  certain  of  the  resentful  students 
would  neglect  an  opportunity  to  outwit  the  watchful 
professor.  The  resentment  of  the  students  toward 
a  situation  that  assumed  their  natural  depravity 
finally  led  to  their  taking  the  matter  into  their  own 
hands.  Leaders  in  the  campus  life  boldly  advocated 
the  total  abolition  of  cribbing,  together  with  the 
abolition  of  oversight  of  examinations  by  the  faculty. 
A  mass  meeting  was  held  in  the  Old  Chapel  at  which 
representatives  of  the  undergraduate  classes  spoke 
strongly  in  favor  of  the  introduction  of  a  system 
whereby  the  students  would  be  placed  upon  their 
honor.  The  upshot  of  the  movement  was  the 
presentation  to  the  faculty  of  a  petition,  setting 

235 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

forth  the  campus  sentiment  and  asking  that  the 
students  be  placed  upon  their  honor  in  taking 
examinations.  The  faculty  accepted  them  at  their 
word  and  adopted  a  resolution  that  henceforth  there 
should  be  no  supervision  of  examinations,  the  student 
merely  being  required  to  give  a  pledge  on  his  paper, 
stating  that  upon  his  honor  as  a  gentleman  he  had 
neither  given  nor  received  assistance  during  the 
examination.  Never  since  the  adoption  of  that 
resolution  has  there  been  any  faculty  supervision  of 
examinations  at  Princeton.  The  professor  or  in- 
structor who  gives  the  examination,  immediately 
after  distributing  the  papers,  leaves  the  room,  and 
the  students  are  upon  their  honor  neither  to  give 
nor  to  receive  assistance.  Should  any  student 
detect  a  breach  of  honor,  it  is  his  duty  to  report 
it  to  the  president  of  his  class,  or  to  the  student 
honor  committee.  Omission  to  sign  the  pledge  does 
not  exempt  a  student  from  the  operation  of  the 
system,  and  all  tests,  whether  formal  examinations 
or  merely  quizzes,  come  under  the  Honor  System. 
From  the  first  the  system  has  worked  admirably. 
There  have  been  very  few  violations  of  the  pledge, 
and  such  as  have  occurred  have  almost  invariably 
been  committed  by  new  members  of  the  university. 
When  a  student  is  reported  to  have  violated  his 
pledge,  he  is  given  a  fair  trial  by  the  undergraduate 
court,  and  if  found  guilty  is  reported  to  the  faculty. 
He  is  thereupon  dismissed  from  college,  but  there  is 

236 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

no  public  announcement  of  his  name.  More  than 
any  other  single  thing  the  Honor  System  in  examina- 
tions has  tended  to  the  elevation  of  campus  sentiment 
at  Princeton  and  to  the  building  of  character.  The 
University  of  Virginia  had  preceded  Princeton  in  this 
reform,  and  to  Princeton  men  it  is  a  source  of  much 
gratification  to  observe  the  adoption  of  the  system 
in  other  institutions. 

At  the  same  meeting  of  the  trustees  at  which 
Doctor  Patton  resigned,  Professor  Woodrow  Wilson 
was  elected  his  successor,  the  first  layman  to  hold 
the  presidency  of  Princeton.  Graduated  from 
Princeton  in  1879,  he  had  returned  to  his  alma  mater 
in  1890  as  professor  of  jurisprudence  and  political 
economy.  He  had  written  much  on  politics  and 
history,  was  a  stimulating  lecturer,  and  his  acqui- 
sition was  warmly  welcomed  by  the  students  and 
alumni.  Shortly  after  Doctor  Wilson's  election  to 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States,  Doctor  Patton, 
referring  to  the  circumstances  of  his  successor's 
appointment  to  the  Princeton  faculty,  said  it  had 
been  necessary  to  convince  the  trustees  of  the  wis- 
dom of  the  choice,  and  that  this  was  accomplished 
by  "dollar  diplomacy",  an  incident  which  now  had 
led  to  such  significant  results. 

In  his  eloquent  inaugural  on  "Princeton  for  the 
Nation's  Service",  President  Wilson  reaffirmed 
Princeton's  traditional  position,  and  Ex-President 
Cleveland,  who  had  become  Stafford  Little  Lecturer 

237 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

on  public  affairs,  and  had  also  accepted  membership 
in  the  board  of  trustees,  in  a  strong  address  said  : 
"If  false  educational  notions  should  prevail,  Prince- 
ton will  bide  her  time  until  they  are  spent,  and 
until  saner  judgment  shall  recognize  her  conscien- 
tious obedience  to  the  demands  of  her  charter  com- 
pact, and  gratefully  appreciate  her  devotion  to  the 
bright  standard  which  for  more  than  a  century  and  a 
half  she  has  held  aloft  on  the  field  where  higher 
education  has  been  courageous  and  triumphant." 

Doctor  Patton,  the  retiring  president,  welcomed 
his  successor  in  an  address  of  singularly  good  taste, 
and  said  that  under  President  Wilson,  Princeton 
looked  forward  to  "a  new  era  of  academic  pros- 
perity." On  retiring  from  office  Doctor  Patton  could 
say  with  justifiable  pride  that,  though  Princeton 
was  not  a  rich  institution,  "we  are  free  from 
debt,  are  thoroughly  solvent  and  able  to  meet 
every  contractual  obligation." 

The  first  important  step  of  the  Wilson  adminis- 
tration was  the  revision  of  the  course  of  study  in 
accordance  with  a  plan  worked  out  by  a  committee 
of  the  faculty.  Under  this  plan,  as  Dean  West, 
who  was  the  secretary  of  this  faculty  committee, 
has  said,  "both  required  and  elective  studies"  were 
"organized  in  a  definite,*  general  programme  based 
on  the  nature  and  relations  of  the  studies  themselves 
and  suited  to  the  student's  stage  of  progress.  This 
means  starting  with  a  base  of  required  studies,  con- 

238 


THE  UNIVERSITY 

sisting  of  and  completing  the  necessary,  fundamental 
parts  of  that  knowledge  which  has  most  general 
value  for  developing  the  mind.  As  this  base  rises, 
its  area  diminishes  and  disappears  as  elective  studies 
are  introduced  gradually,  expanded  progressively 
and  fully,  and  so  related  to  the  required  foundation 
that  the  course  of  study,  taken  together,  truly 
represents  the  system  of  liberal  knowledge  and  the 
natural  progress  of  the  student  toward  complete 
freedom.  In  this  way  the  student  has  the  best 
chance  to  know  where  he  is  and  to  discover  his  real 
aptitudes,  and  not  be  lost  or  bewildered  in  the  flood 
of  studies.  He  is  not  dropped  in  to  drown,  but 
given  a  chance  to  swim." 

In  carrying  out  this  plan,  the  faculty  was  re- 
organized into  divisions,  composed  of  departments, 
the  course  of  study  being  arranged  within  each 
department.  At  the  end  of  sophomore  year,  the 
student  was  required  to  choose  a  department,  and 
in  his  department  thus  chosen  he  could  not  give  his 
whole  time  to  a  single  subject.  He  was  free  to 
choose  his  department,  but  once  having  chosen,  the 
major  part  of  his  work  lay  in  that  department.  He 
could,  however,  change  his  department  at  the  begin- 
ning of  senior  year.  This  was  the  principal  change 
in  the  new  revision  and  was  effectual  in  preventing 
the  incoherency  in  the  choice  of  electives  which  had 
formerly  prevailed.  Under  the  revision  a  new  de- 
gree was  established,  that  of  Bachelor  of  Letters, 

239 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

for   students    desiring   a    cultural    training   without 
Greek. 

A  rigid  rule  was  put  into  effect  to  prevent  the  accu- 
mulation of  courses  in  which  the  student  had  failed  in 
examination.  This  rule  included  back  "conditions" 
in  determining  whether  the  student  had  passed  a 
sufficient  number  of  courses  to  remain  in  college. 

The  great  gymnasium  and  the  university  power 
house  projected  in  the  Patton  administration,  the 
former  built  from  funds  raised  by  a  general  canvass 
of  the  alumni  and  the  latter  financed  by  a  group  of 
graduates  and  friends,  were  completed  in  1903. 
The  power  plant  furnished  both  heat  and  light  for 
all  the  university  buildings,  thereby  doing  away  with 
the  archaic  method  by  which  for  a  century  and  a 
half  each  student  had  kept  his  room  above  the 
freezing  point  in  winter,  and  literally  "burned  the 
midnight  oil"  -that  is,  if  he  had  not  forgotten  to 
have  his  can  filled.  Henceforth  your  room  was 
flooded  with  electric  light,  which  you  were  not  too 
careful  to  turn  off  when  you  went  out,  the  bill  from 
the  treasurer's  office  being  the  same  whether  you 
burned  it  or  not;  and  it  was  always  warm,  even 
though  the  coal-bin  and  wood-box  were  empty. 

In  1904  a  new  dormitory,  Seventy-nine  Hall, 
contributed  by  President  Wilson's  class,  was  built 
on  the  eastern  edge  of  "Prospect",  and  the  following 
year  the  Civil  Engineering  Laboratory  was  added  to 
the  equipment  of  the  School  of  Science. 

240 


University  Boat  House 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

The  movement  for  student  self-government,  which 
had  been  instituted  with  the  Honor  System  in 
examinations,  was  also  taking  more  definite  form. 
In  1904  the  Senior  Council  was  organized,  its 
membership  consisting  of  representatives  of  the 
various  student  activities.  The  Council  represents 
the  undergraduate  body  before  the  faculty  and 
trustees  in  concrete  expression  of  campus  opinion. 

Another  movement  of  far-reaching  importance  had 
been  started  in  1903,  which  five  years  later  eventu- 
ated in  the  breaking  up  of  a  harmful  system  of  un- 
derclass eating  clubs  and  the  establishment  in  its 
stead  of  commons  for  all  freshmen  and  sophomores. 
After  the  abandonment  of  the  refectory  about  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  undergraduates 
had  gradually  formed  separate  eating  clubs,  which 
for  many  years  were  merely  congenial  groups  who 
took  their  meals  at  boarding  houses  in  the  town.  In 
the  early  eighties  one  of  these  clubs  established  a 
permanent  plan  of  succession  from  class  to  class, 
under  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  junior  year  a 
number  of  students  were  elected  into  membership 
and  so  continued  for  the  remainder  of  their  college 
course.  A  small  clubhouse  was  secured  by  the 
rental  of  Ivy  Hall  on  Mercer  Street,  originally 
built  for  the  Princeton  Law  School.  The  club  took 
its  name  from  this  building.  It  became  the  proto- 
type of  similar  clubs  organized  from  time  to  time, 
which  have  now  developed  into  the  upperclass  club 

241 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

system,  with  attractive  and  elaborate  clubhouses 
lining  both  sides  of  Prospect  Avenue.  There  are 
now  seventeen  of  these  upperclass  clubs,  the  mem- 
bership of  which  includes  over  eighty  per  cent  of  the 
junior  and  senior  enrollment. 

To  be  elected  a  member  of  an  upperclass  club  was 
a  natural  ambition  of  the  underclassman,  and  so 
long  as  the  selection  of  members  continued  along 
natural  lines  with  students  of  like  interests  and 
congenial  tastes  grouped  together,  and  especially  so 
long  as  the  clubs  remained  few  in  number,  their 
influence  upon  campus  life  was  not  of  much  im- 
portance. With  their  multiplication,  however,  and 
the  setting  up,  in  the  minds  of  the  students,  of 
a  club  hierarchy,  the  upperclass  club  system  was 
becoming  a  problem.  The  desire  for  election  be- 
gan to  have  an  influence  on  the  underclassmen  which 
in  the  nineties  led  to  the  establishment  of  elective 
sophomore  clubs,  with  rented  houses,  the  membership 
of  these  clubs  being  chosen  with  the  idea  of  forming 
a  strong  organization  which  would  be  taken  as  a 
whole  into  a  "desirable"  upperclass  club  at  the  be- 
ginning of  junior  year.  These  sophomore  clubs 
adopted  characteristic  insignia,  all  members  of  a 
given  club  wearing  hats  of  the  same  color.  There 
was  the  "red-hat"  club,  the  "light-blue-hat"  club, 
the  "dark-blue-hat"  club,  the  "green-hat"  club, 
etc.  The  breaking  up  of  the  class  into  separate, 
rival  groups,  with  the  consequent  scheming  for 

242 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

membership,  was  distinctly  harmful  to  the  demo- 
cratic life  which  Princeton  had  always  cherished. 

Legislation  by  the  university  authorities  failed  to 
break  up  the  system,  the  "hat  lines"  continuing, 
and  the  clubs  beating  the  law  by  the  simple  device 
of  slightly  changing  their  names  from  year  to  year. 
By  degrees  the  system  was  extended  down  into  the 
freshman  class,  in  which  clubs  known  as  "follow- 
ings"  for  the  sophomore  "hat  lines"  were  organized, 
so  that  to  all  intents  and  purposes  the  lower  classes 
were  sub-divided  into  separate  groups,  in  one  of 
which  the  entering  student  would  remain  a  member 
throughout  his  freshman  and  sophomore  years. 

The  first  break  in  this  underclass  club  system  came 
when  the  University  Eating  Club  was  started  in 
1903  in  University  Hall,  with  a  nucleus  of  one 
hundred  twenty-five  members  from  the  freshman 
class.  As  this,  however,  was  a  private  enterprise, 
the  experiment  failed  for  lack  of  support  on  the 
part  of  the  organized  freshman  clubs.  But  it  at 
least  served  to  point  the  way  to  the  correction  of 
a  state  of  affairs  which  all  recognized  as  harmful. 
Three  years  later  six  of  the  leading  freshman  clubs 
joined  in  forming  the  Freshman  Dining  Halls,  each 
club  having  its  separate  room  in  University  Hall, 
with  a  central  kitchen  for  all  and  cooperative  ser- 
vice. This  experiment  was  so  successful  that  the 
following  autumn  all  of  the  freshmen  joined  in  the 
plan.  Freshman  "followings"  and  the  sophomore 

243 


clubs,  however,  still  continued,  the  "followings" 
being  organized  within  the  dining  halls  during 
freshman  year.  These  "followings"  were  the  crux 
of  the  underclass  club  system.  They  were  finally 
abolished  by  the  Senior  Council,  and  in  1908  all  the 
sophomores  began  taking  their  meals  at  the  dining 
halls,  the  two  classes,  however,  being  separated. 
In  the  course  of  time  all  group  lines  within  each  class 
were  wiped  out  and  the  underclass  club  system  was 
abandoned  altogether. 

The  most  significant  thing  about  this  noteworthy 
reform  in  Princeton  life  was  that,  like  the  Honor 
System,  it  sprang  spontaneously  from  the  campus ; 
it  never  could  have  succeeded  but  for  the  initiative 
and  support  of  the  students  themselves.  It  has 
proved  of  tremendous  benefit  not  only  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  physical,  but  also  and  chiefly  from 
that  of  the  ethical  and  social  health  of  the  college. 

In  1902,  Dean  West  was  sent  to  Europe  by  the 
trustees  to  study  the  organization  of  graduate  life 
in  connection  with  the  Graduate  College  projected 
at  the  sesquicentennial,  and  also  to  make  an  inves- 
tigation of  the  operation  of  the  tutorial  system  of 
Oxford.  The  Oxford  tutorial  system  was  not 
adopted,  but  its  more  successful  features  were  in- 
corporated in  a  new  plan  of  instruction  introduced 
in  1905,  which  has  become  well  known  in  American 
education  as  the  Princeton  preceptorial  method  of 
instruction.  Its  aim  was  to  restore  to  the  greatly 

244 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

increased  student  body  the  close  personal  relation  of 
teacher  and  student.  As  President  Wilson  said,  its 
object  was  to  make  a  reading  man  of  the  student, 
instead  of  a  mere  pupil  receiving  instruction.  It 
was  "a  plan  to  get  hold  of  the  personal  equation  of 
each  man,  giving  him  freedom  with  some  guidance, 
in  the  things  toward  which  his  taste  runs,  showing 
him  his  weak  points,  and  training  him  to  see  the 
value  in  the  things  which  he  does  not  naturally  like. 
Under  this  plan  each  man  will  be  treated  individ- 
ually, with  the  purpose  of  putting  zest  into  his  work. 
The  tutor  will  bring  out  and  strengthen  the  in- 
dividual characteristics  of  each  man." 

The  big  lecture  courses  were  not  to  be  abandoned, 
but  emphasis  was  to  be  placed  upon  the  student's 
reading  in  the  field  of  his  lectures.  Conferences  were 
to  be  held  regularly  by  the  preceptor  and  small  groups 
of  students,  and  the  reading  assigned  and  discussed 
at  subsequent  conferences.  These  conferences  were 
to  be  held  in  small  rooms,  preferably  in  the  precep- 
tor's study,  and  were  to  be  of  an  informal  nature, 
with  nothing  of  the  atmosphere  of  the  recitation 
room.  No  marks  were  to  be  given  and  no  absences 
recorded.  Final  grades  were  to  be  based  largely  on 
the  preceptor's  opinion  of  the  student's  progress 
and  development,  his  intelligent  reading  and  his 
digestion  of  what  he  read.  In  short  the  preceptor 
was  to  be  to  the  student  his  "guide,  philosopher 
and  friend." 

245 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

In  1905-1906  fifty-six  members  were  added  to  the 
faculty  with  the  rank  of  assistant  professor  and  the 
special  function  of  preceptor.  These  fifty-six  men 
were  drawn  from  many  colleges. 

Their  coming  was  welcomed  by  the  undergradu- 
ates in  characteristic  fashion.  A  new  verse  was 
added  to  the  Faculty  Song,  beginning : 

Here's  to  those  preceptor  guys, 
Who' re  coming  here  to  make  us  wise. 

The  plan  was  successful  from  the  start.  Its  in- 
troduction was  followed  by  a  general  intellectual  quick- 
ening, which  was  illustrated  for  instance  in  the  vastly 
increased  use  of  the  library  by  the  undergraduates. 

Nothing  could  be  urged  against  the  preceptorial 
method  of  instruction  but  the  great  expense  of  add- 
ing to  the  budget  the  salaries  of  so  many  men  of 
unusual  qualities.  To  meet  this  expense,  in  the 
absence  of  the  required  endowment,  President  Wil- 
son proposed  to  "capitalize  the  good  will  of  the 
alumni."  "The  Committee  of  Fifty",  a  group  of 
representative  graduates  which  had  been  organized 
to  raise  funds  for  the  immediate  needs  and  further 
development  of  the  university,  and  which  later  was 
reorganized  as  the  Graduate  Council,  canvassed  the 
alumni  from  year  to  year  for  subscriptions  to  dis- 
charge the  obligations  which  had  been  incurred  by 
the  appointment  of  the  preceptors,  and  the  Graduate 
Council  still  continues  to  assume  this  heavy  burden. 

246 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

It  was  unfortunate  that  an  adequate  endowment 
was  not  provided  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the 
preceptorial  method,  to  yield  an  income  to  meet 
this  great  increase  in  the  budget;  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  plan  to  its  full  usefulness  still  awaits 
such  an  endowment. 

The  students  and  alumni  had  cause  for  great  re- 
joicing when  facilities  for  aquatic  and  ice  sports  were 
provided  by  the  presentation  of  Lake  Carnegie, 
bordering  the  lower  campus.  The  project  of  build- 
ing a  lake  at  Princeton  had  come  to  a  head  when 
Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  had  visited  Mr.  Cleveland  at 
Princeton,  and  the  feasibility  of  impounding  the 
waters  of  Stony  Brook  and  the  Millstone  River 
by  building  a  large  dam  at  Kingston  was  suggested 
to  his  receptive  imagination  by  Howard  Russell 
Butler,  '76.  Mr.  Carnegie  had  been  building  lochs 
upon  his  estate  in  Scotland,  and  the  proposal  to 
transform  the  ugly  swamp  along  Stony  Brook  into 
a  beautiful  sheet  of  water  naturally  appealed  to  him 
very  strongly.  He  generously  agreed  to  bear  the  ex- 
pense, and  after  two  years  of  excavating  and  construc- 
tion, the  huge  engineering  feat  was  accomplished.  In 
December,  1906,  the  formal  presentation  took  place, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carnegie  being  the  guests  of  the  oc- 
casion. When  Mr.  Carnegie  and  his  party  arrived 
at  the  little  station  he  was  greeted  by  a  huge  banner 
hung  from  Blair  Tower  at  the  entrance  of  the  uni- 
versity, bearing  the  legend  : 

247 


WELKUM  TO 

THE 
LAIRD  OF  SKIBO 

In  handing  over  the  deed  for  the  lake,  Mr.  Carnegie 
expressed  the  hope  that  it  would  serve  to  develop 
aquatic  sports  at  Princeton,  and  that  the  influence 
of  aquatics  would  raise  other  athletics  to  the  level  of 
that  sport. 

Lake  Carnegie  has  proved  a  great  boon  not  only 
to  the  university  but  to  the  community  as  a  whole. 
From  the  scenic  standpoint  it  is  an  incomparable 
improvement,  and  in  addition  it  provides  excellent 
facilities  for  all  forms  of  boating  and  for  skating  in 
winter.  Over  three  miles  in  length,  it  has  a  row- 
ing course  of  nearly  two  miles,  which  has  attracted 
to  Princeton  the  leading  crews  of  the  eastern  col- 
leges. The  class  of  '87  has  provided  a  well  equipped 
boathouse.  In  the  spring  and  fall  great  numbers 
of  students  are  rowing  on  the  lake,  and  there  are 
numerous  undergraduate  crews  and  frequent  re- 
gattas. Princeton  now  has  a  recognized  place  in 
intercollegiate  rowing,  and  its  amateur  rowing  sys- 
tem under  Doctor  Spaeth,  with  visiting  crews  en- 
tertained as  real  guests  and  the  amateur  spirit  pre- 
dominating throughout,  has  set  a  new  standard  in 
intercollegiate  competition. 

At  the  Commencement  meeting  of  the  trustees 
in  1907,  a  report  on  the  intellectual  and  social  coor- 

248 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

dination  of  the  university  was  submitted  to  the  board 
by  a  committee  of  which  President  Wilson  was 
chairman.  This  report  proposed  a  scheme  of  re- 
organization which  received  much  publicity  as  the 
"Quad  Plan."  Its  aim  was  to  combine  the  under- 
graduates in  residential  groups  or  units,  each  unit 
to  be  made  up  of  its  own  dormitories,  dining  hall 
and  commons  rooms.  In  proposing  the  plan, 
President  Wilson  desired  "that  the  forms  and  con- 
ditions under  which  each  man  in  residence  lives  may 
so  far  as  possible  be  the  forms  and  conditions  which 
are  common  to  all."  The  undergraduates  together 
with  unmarried  members  of  the  faculty  were  to 
reside  and  take  their  meals  in  the  quads,  to  which 
students  were  to  be  assigned  by  a  faculty  com- 
mittee. The  committee  of  which  the  president 
was  chairman  proposed  "a  reintegration  of  our 
academic  life",  and  the  report  declared  that  "the 
only  way  in  which  the  social  life  of  the  undergradu- 
ates can  be  prevented  from  fatally  disordering,  and 
perhaps  even  strangling,  the  academic  life  of  the 
University  is  by  the  actual  absorption  of  the  social 
life  into  the  academic." 

During  the  ensuing  summer  this  proposal  was 
widely  discussed  by  trustees,  faculty,  alumni,  and 
students,  some  of  whom  were  its  ardent  supporters 
and  others  its  earnest  opponents.  Whatever  its 
merits  or  demerits,  there  was  the  outstanding  fact 
that  to  put  it  into  operation  would  require  for  new 

249 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

buildings  at  least  two  million  dollars,  none  of  which 
was  in  sight,  while  the  endowment  of  two  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  required  for  the  preceptorial 
method  of  instruction  and  the  even  larger  fund  for 
the  Graduate  College,  to  both  of  which  the  university 
was  committed,  were  not  as  yet  provided.  At  the 
meeting  of  the  trustees  in  October  the  "Quad 
Plan"  was  finally  withdrawn,  and  the  committee 
discharged. 

A  movement  looking  to  more  effective  participation 
of  the  alumni  in  the  affairs  of  the  university  was 
consummated  in  1909,  when  the  Committee  of  Fifty 
was  reorganized  as  the  Graduate  Council,  with  a 
charter,  constitution,  and  by-laws.  This  reorgani- 
zation gave  the  representative  alumni  body  a  much 
broader  scope  than  merely  the  function  of  collect- 
ing funds.  An  office  was  opened  in  Princeton  with 
a  resident  secretary  in  charge,  and  the  Council  was 
divided  into  working  committees  whose  functions, 
in  addition  to  that  of  canvassing  the  alumni  for 
money,  included  those  of  keeping  the  alumni  in 
closer  touch  with  each  other,  with  the  undergradu- 
ates, the  preparatory  schools,  the  public,  the  class 
organizations,  and  with  the  numerous  alumni  as- 
sociations scattered  throughout  the  country.  The 
Committee  of  Fifty  had  raised  annually  over  a  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  to  meet  the  deficit  in  the  univer- 
sity budget,  and  in  addition  had  obtained  gifts  and 
pledges  aggregating  over  six  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

250 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

Its  successor,  the  Graduate  Council,  is  composed 
of  thirty-five  representatives  of  classes  last  gradu- 
ated, fifteen  members-at-large,  and  five  representa- 
tives of  alumni  associations.  The  Council  has  au- 
thority to  make  recommendations  to  the  board  of 
trustees,  with  which  it  cooperates  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  university.  It  has  established  visiting 
committees  to  keep  its  members  informed  with  re- 
gard to  the  educational  facilities  of  the  university, 
and  under  its  auspices  Alumni  Day  is  observed 
each  year,  when  all  alumni  are  invited  to  visit 
Princeton  for  an  inspection  of  the  university. 

The  residential  Graduate  College,  which  had  been 
projected  since  the  sesquicentennial,  continued  in 
abeyance  until,  in  1905,  the  first  fund  toward  carry- 
ing it  into  effect  was  provided  by  the  will  of  Mrs. 
Josephine  Thomson  Swann,  who  bequeathed  for 
the  Graduate  College  project  over  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  to  be  used  in  the  building  of  Thom- 
son College  as  a  residential  hall,  which  was  to  be 
erected  "upon  the  grounds  of  the  said  University." 

The  year  after  Dean  West's  return  from  Europe, 
whence  he  was  sent  by  the  trustees  to  study  the 
residential  conditions  of  graduate  students,  his  re- 
port on  the  Graduate  College  project  was  published 
by  authority  of  the  trustees,  with  an  introduction 
by  the  president.  This  report  outlined  three  es- 
sentials of  the  Graduate  College,  namely,  a  body  of 
well  endowed  professorships,  a  system  of  fellowships 

251 


THE   STORY  OF   PRIXCETOX 

to  provide  a  nucleus  of  picked  students  for  such 
professorships,  and  buildings  of  dignity  and  comfort 
for  the  home  of  this  community  of  scholars.  Early 
in  1905  it  was  decided,  rather  than  wait  any  longer 
for  the  endowment,  to  establish  an  experimental 
Graduate  College  at  "Merwick",  a  private  residence 
with  large  grounds  on  Bayard  Lane.  This  residence 
afforded  accommodations  for  the  experiment  on  only 
a  small  scale.  About  a  dozen  students  lived  in  the 
house  and  about  two  dozen  took  their  meals  there. 
The  experiment  proved  so  successful  that  it  was 
commended  in  the  president's  annual  report  of  1905, 
as  follows  :  "We  believe  that  in  this  graduate  house 
we  have  a  sure  prophecy  of  the  Graduate  College  for 
which  we  so  eagerly  hope  as  the  crowning  distinction 
of  Princeton's  later  development  as  a  University." 

The  opening  of  "Merwick"  as  an  experimental 
Graduate  College  was  soon  followed  by  the  bequest 
of  Mrs.  Swann. 

The  Swann  bequest  was  not  sufficient  to  carry 
out  the  whole  plan  of  the  Graduate  College,  and 
there  were  further  delays,  but  in  the  spring  of  1908 
a  site  for  Thomson  College,  the  residential  hall  for 
which  Mrs.  Swann  had  provided,  was  selected  by 
the  trustees.  This  site  was  a  portion  of  the  grounds 
of  "Prospect",  the  president's  residence.  The 
chief  reason  for  placing  Thomson  College  on  the 
"Prospect"  grounds  was  the  desire  for  a  central 
location,  but  it  was  recognized  all  along  that  this  site 

252 


THE  UNIVERSITY 

was  inadequate,  as  there  was  not  sufficient  room  for 
expansion. 

A  large  additional  fund  for  the  Graduate  College 
was  announced  in  May,  1909,  when  William  Cooper 
Procter,  '83,  offered  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
on  condition  that  some  other  site  than  "Prospect'* 
should  be  chosen,  and  that  an  equal  sum  should  be 
raised  within  a  year.  In  the  Swann  bequest  there 
had  been  no  provision  for  endowment.  Mr.  Proc- 
ter's offer,  however,  provided  that  not  more  than 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  his  gift  should 
go  into  buildings,  the  remainder  to  be  used  for 
endowment  and  fellowships.  At  the  meeting  of  the 
trustees  the  following  October,  the  board  voted  to 
abandon  the  "Prospect"  site  and  to  place  the  Gradu- 
ate College  on  a  portion  of  the  campus  which  in 
1905  had  been  presented  to  the  university  and  on 
which  the  golf  links  were  laid  out. 

Although  this  site  was  selected  by  a  vote  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  the  question  was  raised  whether 
it  complied  with  the  phrase  in  Mrs.  Swann's  will, 
that  Thomson  College  should  be  erected  "on  the 
grounds  of  the  said  University."  Eminent  legal 
opinion,  however,  was  to  the  effect  that  the  land 
adjoining  the  golf  course  met  this  condition  of  the 
will.  Then  the  entire  Graduate  College  project 
was  assailed,  notwithstanding  that  it  had  now  re- 
ceived official  sanction  for  thirteen  years.  The 
controversy  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Procter's 

253 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

offer.  The  spring  of  1910  was  therefore  the  most 
heated  period  of  the  Graduate  College  controversy. 
In  May  of  that  year,  three  months  after  Mr.  Procter 
had  withdrawn  his  offer,  the  death  of  Isaac  Chaun- 
cey  Wyman,  '48,  •  brought  the  controversy  to  a 
dramatic  close.  By  the  terms  of  his  will,  Mr. 
Wyman  left  to  his  alma  mater  property  valued  at 
over  two  million  dollars.  He  specifically  bequeathed 
his  residuary  estate  in  trust  to  carry  out  the  Gradu- 
ate College  project,  in  accordance  with  Dean  West's 
report  of  1903.  The  Commencement  of  that  year 
was  an  especially  happy  one,  for  it  was  marked  by 
the  renewal  and  acceptance  of  Air.  Procter's  offer 
and  other  gifts,  which,  in  addition  to  the  Wyman 
bequest,  amounted  to  nearly  a  million  and  a  half 
dollars.  In  announcing  to  the  board  the  Wyman 
bequest  and  the  Procter  gift,  the  president  said  : 

"I,  therefore,  very  heartily  congratulate  the  Board 
upon  a  combination  of  circumstances  which  gives 
so  bright  a  promise  of  a  successful  and  harmonious 
development  of  the  University  along  lines  which 
may  command  our  common  enthusiasm. 

"I  take  pleasure  in  recommending  the  acceptance 
of  gifts  which  have  so  richly  endowed  us  not  only 
with  money,  but  also  with  the  favor  and  support  of 
thoughtful  friends." 

At  this  Commencement,  provision  was  made  for 
the  establishment  of  the  department  of  physical 
education,  under  which  an  extensive  system  of 

254 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

intracollegiate  athletics  has  been  built  up.  Ow- 
ing chiefly  to  the  work  of  this  department,  Prince- 
ton students  no  longer  take  their  athletics  by  proxy. 
Practically  the  entire  undergraduate  body  receives 
regular,  intelligently  directed  exercise  in  the  nu- 
merous teams  which  are  organized  by  the  department 
in  the  various  branches  of  indoor  and  outdoor 
sports.  Extensive  fields  have  been  laid  out  on  the 
lower  campus  for  the  general  use  of  the  students, 
the  latest  of  which  is  Poe  Field,  a  memorial  to  John 
Prentiss  Poe,  Jr.,  '95,  who  in  1915  was  killed  in 
action  in  Northern  France,  while  fighting  in  the 
cause  of  the  Allies  as  a  corporal  in  the  famous  Scotch 
regiment,  the  Black  Watch. 

In  the  autumn  of  1910,  President  Wilson  re- 
ceived the  Democratic  nomination  for  Governor 
of  New  Jersey  and  accordingly  resigned  the  presi- 
dency of  the  university.  His  election  to  the  gov- 
ernorship, and  in  1912  to  the  presidency  of  the 
United  States,  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  nation. 
The  undergraduates  formed  a  special  escort  for  the 
President-elect  and  his  family  on  their  journey  from 
Princeton  to  Washington  for  the  inauguration.  It 
was  an  interesting  coincidence  that  President  Wilson 
was  inaugurated  exactly  one  hundred  years  to  the 
day  after  the  second  inauguration  of  the  other 
Princeton  graduate  who  was  the  chief  executive 
of  the  nation,  James  Madison  of  the  class  of  1771. 

The  eight  years  of  President  Wilson's  adminis- 
255 


THE   STORY  OF   PRINCETON 

tration  at  Princeton  had  been  years  of  great  activity. 
Material  prosperity  had  been  marked  by  the  erection 
of  four  new  dormitories,  the  Palmer  Physical  Labora- 
tory, Guyot  Hall,  the  Vivarium,  the  Civil  Engineer- 
ing Laboratory,  McCosh  Hall,  the  gymnasium 
and  power  plant ;  the  central  portion  of  Nassau 
Hall  had  been  restored  as  the  Faculty  Room ; 
the  Fitz  Randolph  Gateway,  a  memorial  to 
Nathaniel  Fitz  Randolph,  who  gave  the  original 
campus,  had  been  erected ;  the  Mather  Sun  Dial 
had  been  dedicated  with  Ambassador  Bryce  as  a 
special  guest  of  honor ;  Lake  Carnegie  had  been 
built ;  the  campus  acreage  had  been  nearly  trebled, 
and  several  of  the  upperclass  clubs  had  built  hand- 
some houses.  The  university  funds  had  been  in- 
creased by  over  four  and  a  half  million  dollars. 

A  coherent  course  of  study  had  been  established, 
and  honors  courses  introduced ;  the  preceptorial 
method  of  instruction  had  been  adopted  ;  entrance 
requirements  had  been  standardized,  discipline  en- 
forced ;  the  faculty  had  been  strengthened  and 
increased  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  sixty- 
nine  members,  and  the  equipment  of  the  library 
greatly  augmented.  Owing  chiefly  to  the  raising 
of  the  standards  the  student  enrollment  had  not 
commensurately  increased,  the  gain  being  from 
1354  in  1902  to  1400  in  1910. 

Following  President  Wilson's  resignation,  the 
senior  member  of  the  board  of  trustees,  the  Honor- 

256 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

able  John  A.  Stewart,  was  appointed  president  pro 
tern-pore.  Pending  the  election  of  a  president,  Mr. 
Stewart  was  assisted  by  Dean  Henry  B.  Fine,  '80, 
in  the  more  strictly  academic  functions  of  the 
office. 

In  the  spring  of  1911,  work  was  begun  on  the  con- 
struction of  the  buildings  of  the  Graduate  College 
on  the  site  adjoining  the  golf  links.  The  Cleveland 
Alonument  Association,  which  was  raising  a  fund  by- 
popular  subscription  to  erect  a  national  memorial 
to  President  Cleveland,  who  before  his  death  was 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  trustees  on  the 
Graduate  School,  and  had  been  a  strong  advocate 
of  the  Graduate  College  project,  very  appropriately 
decided  to  erect  the  monument  at  Princeton  in 
connection  with  the  Graduate  College  buildings. 
The  Cleveland  Memorial  Tower  therefore  became  the 
dominant  feature  of  the  Gothic  group  of  buildings 
which  constitute  the  Graduate  College. 

A  gift  of  much  importance  to  the  university  was 
that  of  the  building  and  equipment  of  the  Princeton 
University  Press  by  Charles  Scribner,  '75,  of  the 
board  of  trustees.  The  University  Press,  organized 
as  an  association  not  for  pecuniary  profit,  is  operated 
in  the  interest  of  the  university  under  a  board  of 
directors,  all  of  whom  are  associated  with  the 
university. 

In  1912,  Professor  John  Grier  Hibben,  '82,  was 
elected  the  fourteenth  president  of  the  university. 

257 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

After  his  graduation  from  Princeton,  President 
Hibben  had  pursued  his  theological  studies  at  the 
Princeton  Seminary,  had  served  a  pastorate,  and 
in  the  early  years  of  Doctor  Patton's  administra- 
tion had  returned  to  Princeton  as  instructor  in 
logic  and  psychology.  At  the  time  of  his  election 
to  the  presidency,  he  was  Stuart  Professor  of  Logic, 
a  subject  on  which  he  had  written  extensively. 

President  Hibben's  inauguration  took  place  on 
the  steps  of  Nassau  Hall  in  May,  President  Taft 
and  Chief  Justice  White  being  among  the  speakers. 
It  was  soon  followed  by  another  impressive  academic 
ceremonial,  the  dedication  of  the  Graduate  College 
on  Commemoration  Day,  October  22,  1913.  In 
dignity  and  distinction  this  occasion  was  com- 
parable to  the  sesquicentennial  of  seventeen  years 
before.  It  was  marked  by  the  presence  of  a  great 
concourse  of  visiting  statesmen  and  scholars,  who 
joined  in  congratulating  Princeton  on  the  crowning  of 
its  educational  system  by  the  opening  of  the  Gradu- 
ate College.  Upon  the  presentation  of  the  Cleve- 
land Tower,  Ex-President  Taft  delivered  a  memorial 
address  on  Mr.  Cleveland,  whose  son,  Richard 
Folsom  Cleveland,  '19,  then  a  schoolboy  at  Exeter, 
participated  in  the  ceremonies  by  liberating  a  na- 
tional flag  over  the  memorial  to  his  distinguished 
father.  Throughout  the  ceremony  ran  expressions 
of  appreciative  congratulation  to  Dean  West  as 
the  founder  of  the  Graduate  College. 

258 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

The  five  years  of  President  Hibben's  administra- 
tion have  been  marked  by  steady  growth.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  opening  of  the  Graduate  College,  Cuyler 
Hall,  the  most  complete  dormitory  on  the  campus, 
has  been  constructed,  and  another  dormitory  is 
planned ;  for  athletic  equipment  the  '87  boathouse 
and  the  Palmer  Memorial  Stadium  have  been  erected. 

Through  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  Russell  Sage  and 
the  alumni,  undergraduates,  and  friends  of  Prince- 
ton, the  new  University  Dining  Halls  have  been 
provided,  adjoining  Holder  Hall  and  completing 
this  great  Gothic  group.  This  splendid  gift  pro- 
vides ample  accommodations  in  dignified  surround- 
ings for  serving  meals  to  the  entire  freshman  and 
sophomore  classes,  with  separate  dining  rooms  and 
commons  rooms  for  these  classes.  There  is  also 
provision  for  a  University  Club  for  the  common  use 
of  the  academic  community,  and  for  serving  meals 
to  upperclassmen,  all  of  which  promises  to  have  an 
important  influence  on  the  social  life  of  Princeton. 
The  group  has  been  named  Madison  Hall,  as  a  me- 
morial to  President  James  Madison  of  the  class  of 
1771. 

The  largest  of  several  gifts  to  the  university  during 
President  Hibben's  administration  was  the  bequest 
of  the  late  Ferris  Thompson,  '88,  of  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars  outright,  and  ten  thousand  dollars 
a  year  in  addition.  The  university  is  also  to  receive 
his  residuary  estate,  a  total  gift  for  endowment  of 

259 


THE   STORY  OF  PRINCETON 

two  million,  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which 
will  eventually  come  to  Princeton.  The  university 
campus  has  been  enlarged  by  the  gift  of  one  hundred 
seven  acres  bordering  Lake  Carnegie. 

Along  with  this  material  growth  the  enrollment 
has  increased  from  1400  in  1910  to  1555  in  1917. 
The  standards  of  discipline  and  scholarship  have  been 
maintained,  honors  courses  have  been  developed, 
and  Princeton  has  joined  with  Yale  and  Harvard 
in  admitting  students  on  the  examinations  of  the 
College  Entrance  Board.  Plans  of  freshman  super- 
vision and  advisors  have  been  introduced.  The 
faculty  has  been  strengthened,  particularly  in  his- 
tory, economics,  philosophy,  English,  the  modern 
languages,  chemistry  and  biology,  and  the  civil  en- 
gineering department  has  been  reorganized,  and  is 
planning  large  developments. 

Throughout  his  administration,  President  Hibben 
has  constantly  emphasized  as  Princeton's  most  press- 
ing need  a  large  endowment  to  provide  for  the 
annual  deficit,  for  the  increase  of  professors'  salaries, 
and  for  the  development  of  the  distinctly  educational 
work  of  the  university.  With  all  the  advances 
which  have  been  made  in  the  five  years  of  his  ad- 
ministration, and  with  the  well  matured  plans  for 
future  development,  among  the  most  valuable 
services  President  Hibben  has  given  to  his  alma 
mater  is  a  service  which  will  ever  be  associated  with 
his  personality  —  the  reestablishment  of  harmony, 

260 


THE   UNIVERSITY 

the  solidifying  of  trustees,  faculty,  alumni,  and  stu- 
dents for  the  great  work  of  realizing  the  educational 
ideals  for  which  Princeton  stands. 

Chief  among  these  ideals  has  ever  been  service  to 
the  nation  and  to  humanity  at  large,  whether  in 
peace  or  in  war.  "I  am  for  peace  at  any  price," 
declared  President  Hibben  in  a  recent  characteristic 
address,  "but  now  the  price  of  peace  is  war."  In 
this  unexampled  conflict  of  democracy  against  autoc- 
racy, President  Hibben  is  worthily  interpreting 
the  Princeton  tradition  of  public  service ;  and  the 
record  which  Princeton  men  of  to-day,  alumni  and 
undergraduates,  are  making,  bears  illuminating 
witness  to  the  unimpaired  vitality  of  the  spirit  of 
Witherspoon  and  his  boys,  the  "Spirit  of  '76."  It 
is  significant  that  no  less  than  four-fifths  of  the 
members  of  the  graduating  class  of  1917  are  volun- 
teering for  service  in  the  great  war  for  civilization. 


261 


INDEX 


ALEXANDER  HALL,  230 

Alexander,  James  W.,  118,  173 

Alexander,  Stephen,  154 

Alumni,  associations,  152-153,  220- 
221,  234;  in  Civil  War,  186- 
188;  Committee  of  Fifty,  246, 
250;  in  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion, 73-76,  105;  Alumni  Day, 
251;  Graduate  Council,  220, 
246,  250-25 1 ;  loyalty,  influence, 
and  activity,  40,  118,  128,  148, 
150,  152-153,  175-176,  193,  199- 

2OO,  2O2,  210,  219-222,  231,  233- 
234,  240,  246,  248,  250-251, 

259,  261 ;  in  public  service,  70- 
76,  83-85,  89,  94-95,  97,  105- 
106,  109,  147,  152,  156-158,  174- 
175,  178,  186-188,  255,  261; 
in  Revolution,  72-73,  76,  83,  94, 
105;  trustees,  220,  233-234 

Architecture,  Old  Chapel,  172; 
Gothic,  233,  257,  259;  Henry's 
plan,  154,  173;  Nassau  Hall, 
26-28,  185,  256 

Art  Museum,  210 

Athletics,  112,  160,  201,  208-209, 
214-215,  230,  247-248,  254- 

255,  259 

Atwater,  Lyman  H.,  101,  192 
Avery,  Waightstill,  72 
Ayres,  Enos,  21 


B 

BAKER,  ALFRED  T.,  4 
Balch,  Hezekiah  James,  72 
Baldwin,  Jonathan,  31 
Bayard,  James  Ashton,  87 
Bayard,  John,  106 
Beasly,  Frederick,  117 
Beatty,  Charles  C.,  79 
Bedford,  Gunning,  Jr.,  74 
Belcher,  Jonathan,  13,  17,  20,  28, 

30,  38,  53 

Biological  Laboratory,  210,  230 
Blair  Hall,  233 

Blair,  Samuel,  8,  13,  17,  36,  42 
Boudinot,  Elias,  95,  104,  152 
Brackenridge,  Hugh  Henry,  78 
Brackett,   Cyrus    Fogg,    205,    207, 

208 

Bradford,  William,  109 
Brevard,  Ephraim,  72 
Bridges,  Robert,  222 
Brokaw,  Frederick,  230 
Brokaw  Memorial,  230 
Brown  Hall,  230 
Burning,  of  Nassau  Hall,  112,  118- 

119,  181,  183-185;  of  New  York 

merchants'  letter,  77-78 
Burr,  Colonel  Aaron,  156-160 
Burr,   President  Aaron,   8,    10-11, 

13,  19-20,  29-31,  33,  35,  53,  55, 

57,  156 
Bursar,  122 


263 


INDEX 


Butler,  62-63 

Butler,  Howard  Russell,  247 

Buttery,  62-63 


CAMERON,  HENRY  CLAY,  175-176, 

193 

Campbell  Hall,  209 
Campus,  23,  90,  154,  172-173,  178, 

193,  205,  210-211,  225,  240,  247- 

248,  256,  259-260 
Cannon,  Big,  161-162,  173 ;  Little, 

162-166 
Carnahan,    President    James,    124, 

142-147,  149-151,  159,  169,  172, 

177-179,  193 
Carnegie,     Lake,     247-248,     256, 

260 

"Castle  Howard",  3-4 
Celebrations,  centennial,  174-177; 

Declaration  of  Independence,  86; 

dedication  of  Graduate  College, 

258;  fall  of  Bastille,  113  ;  Lafay- 
ette's visit,  147;  sesquicentennial, 

230-231 ;  Washington's  birthday, 

172 

Chancellor  Green  Library,  126,  209 
Chapel,  39;  "Old",  171-172;  Mar- 

quand, 173,  210 
Charter,  of  1746,   11-15;  °f  J748> 

17-20 

Chemical  Laboratory,  230 
Chemistry,  introduction  of,  115 
Civil  Engineering,  Department  of, 

260 
Civil  Engineering  Laboratory,  240, 

256 

Civil  War,  181,  185,  191 
Cleveland,  Grover,  231,  237,  247, 


257 


Cleveland  Memorial  Tower,  257- 
258 

Cliosophic  Society,  66-69,  !59>  173> 
230 

Clow,  Henry,  6,  32 

Clubs,  eating,  241-244;  Plain  Deal- 
ing, 66-67 ;  Well  Meaning,  66-67 

College  of  New  Jersey,  founding, 
7-12;  first  account,  7;  purpose, 
8,  14,  18;  national  sphere,  8,  18, 
19;  first  charter,  11-15;  reli- 
gious freedom,  n,  14,  17,  19-20; 
first  term,  15;  at  Elizabeth 
Town,  15;  first  faculty,  15; 
second  charter,  17-20;  location 
and  early  life  at  Princeton,  17- 

18,  23-26,  29,  57-65  ;  at  Newark, 

19,  48,  51-55;  first  Commence- 
ment,    19-21;  first     graduating 
class,  21 ;  Blair's  "Account",  41- 
42;  Southern  affiliation,  93,  185- 
191;  mother  of  colleges,  94;  ec- 
clesiastical  influence,   no,    123- 
125,    192;    centennial,    174-177; 
Civil  W'ar,  181,  185-191;  sesqui- 
centennial,  230-231;    university 
title,  231 

Commemoration  Day,  12,  231,  258 
Commencement,  19-21,  46,  78,  89, 

96,  105-108,  170-171,  174-177 
Committee  of  Fifty,  246,  250 
Commons,  241,  243,  259 
Conference  Committee,  218 
Congress,   Continental,  70-72,  83, 

95-98,  103-105 
Constitution     of     United     States, 

Princetonians'    part    in,    70-71, 

73-75,  105 
Cornwall,  Henry  B.,  206 


Costume  and  dressing,  53,  166-169 

264 


INDEX 


Cracker  explosions,   132-133,   140, 

145-146 
Curriculum,  18-19,  5',  56,  S9,-8i, 

93,   115-116,   124,   168-169,  180, 

2OO-20I,  203-204,  2II-2I2,  229- 
23O,  238-240,  256 

Custis,  George  Washington  Parke, 

1 08 
Cuyler  Hall,  259 


DALLAS,  GEORGE  M.,  152,  175 
Davie,  William  Richardson,  74 
Davies,  President  Samuel,  28,  36- 

40,  59 

Dawson,  John,  187 

Dayton,  Jonathan,  74,  105 

Degrees,  bachelor  of  laws,  174;  of 
letters,  239;  of  science,  212; 
civil  engineer,  212;  electrical  en- 
gineer, 230;  higher,  38,  203-204, 
207,  224,  230 

Departmental  plan,  239 

DeWitt,  John,  180,  187 

Dickinson  Hall,  209 

Dickinson,  President  Jonathan,  8, 
lo-n,  13,  15-16,  18 

Dining  Halls,  244,  260 

Discipline,  48-50,  57-64,   102-103, 

112,   119,   121-122,   129,   132-135, 

138,  145-146,  178-180,  190-191, 

212-214,  256,  260 
Disorders,  no,  112,  116-121,  128, 

132-133,  136-138,  140,  145-146, 

160,  209,  213-214,  219 
Dod,  Albert  B.,  150-151,  168-169, 

173 

Dod  Hall,  230 
Dod,  S.  B.,  155 


Dormitories,  29,  153,  209-210,  230, 

233,  240,  256,  259 
Dress,   student    and    faculty,    53, 

166-169 

Duffield,  George,  105 
Duffield,  John  Thomas,  193,  201 


EAST  COLLEGE,  29,  153,  173,  184 
Ecclesiastical   influence,    110,    115, 

123-125,  192 
Edwards  Hall,  210 
Edwards,  President  Jonathan,  30, 

33-35 
Electrical  Engineering,  School  of, 

230 

Ellmaker,  Elias,  116 
Ellsworth,  Oliver,  72,  74,  95,  109 
Elmendorf,  Peter,  33 
Endowment,    28,    37,     178,     192- 

193,  212,  225,  231,  253,  259-260 
Enrollment,  15,  19,  29,  48,  81,  89- 

90,  92,  121,  123,  135,  138,  145, 

148-151,     177,     185,     188,    212, 

224,  234,  256,  260 
Entrance     requirements,    49,     59, 

1 80,  256,  260 

Examinations,  56,  235-237,  240 
Expenses,  college,  58,  120,  148 


FACULTY,  15,  81,  92,  113,  122,  124, 
128-129,  144,  149-152,  168- 
170,  173-174.  '77.  181,  205-206, 
225,  234,  239,  246,  256,  260 

Faculty  Room,  172,  256 

Field,  Richard  S.,  174 

Finances,  28,  37,  81,  00-91,  116, 
119,  124,  139,  148-153.  178, 


265 


INDEX 


l8l,      184,      192-193,      212,      225, 

231,       238,       246-247,       250-254, 

256,  259-260 
Fine,  Henry  B.,  206,  257 
Finley,    President    Samuel,    9,    13, 

17-18,  36,  40-42,  45,  47-48,  79 
FitzRandolph  Gateway,  23,  256 
FitzRandolph,    Nathaniel,    5,    23, 

256 

Fraternities,  181,  213-214 
Freneau,  Philip,  78 
Freshman  rules,  60,  65-66 


GEOLOGICAL  EXPEDITIONS,  207 
George    II,   King,   portrait  of,   39, 

88,  1 08 

Giger,  George  Musgrave,  193 
Gildersleeve,  Basil  L.,  124,  160 
Godwin,  Parke,  158 
Graduate   College,   232,   244,  250- 

254,  257-259 
Graduate  Council,  220,  246,  250- 

251 
Graduate  instruction,  38,  203-204, 

207,  224,  230 

Graduate  School,  207,  232,  257 
Grammar  School,  81 
"Great  Rebellion",  64 
Green,   President  Ashbel,   44,   64, 

83,   92,    106-107,    120,    126-129, 

132,  135,  137-Hi 
Green,  James  S.,  174 
Green,  John  C.,  211 
Green,  William  Henry,  195 
Greenland,  Henry,  3 
Guyot,  Arnold,  192 
Guyot  Hall,  256 
Gymnasiums,    201,    208-209,    216, 

240,  256 


H 

HALSEY,    JOSEPH    JACKSON,    166- 

169 

Halsey,  Luther,  144 
Halsted  Observatory,  193,  210 
Hamilton  Hall,  12 
Hamilton,  John,  12 
Harvard,  7,  9,  17-18,  73,  185,  195, 

204-205,  260 
Hazard,  Ebenezer,  41 
Hazing,  182,  213 
Hedges,  Job  E.,  226 
Henry,     Joseph,      126,      153-156, 

173 

Herring,  Elbert,  200 
Hibben,     President     John     Grier, 

225,  235,  257-261 
Hodge,  Charles,  135,  202 
Holder  Hall,  23,  259 
Honor      System,      235-237,      241, 

244 

Hope,  Matthew  B.,  160,  174,  192 
Hornblower,  Joseph  C.,  174 
"Horn  Sprees",  181-182,  213 
Houston,    William    Churchill,    74, 

81,  87,  92 

Howard,  William,  4 
Hunt,  Theodore  W.,  206 
Huss,  H.  C.  O.,  206 

I 

INFIRMARY,  217,  230 
Ivy  Hall,  174,  241 

J 

JOHXES,  TIMOTHY,  105 
Johns,  John,  135 
Johnston,  Alexander,  206 


266 


INDEX 


K 

KARGE,  JOSEPH,  205,  207-208,  219 
Kollock,  Henry,  117 


LABORATORIES,  115,  126,  210,  230, 

240,  256 

Lafayette,  Marquis  of,  147 
Lake  Carnegie,  247-248,  256,  260 
Law  department,  174 
Lawrence,  Nathaniel,  106 
Laws,  college,  48-50,   57-65,   H2, 

119-120,  122,  130,  138-139,  146, 

1 80 
"Lay    of    the    Scottish    Fiddle", 

130-132 

"Lazy  Corner",  167 
Lee,  Charles,  109 
Lee,  Henry,  109 
Leland,  Charles  Godfrey,  168-169, 

183 

Lewis,  Morgan,  105 

Libbey,  William,  206 

Library,  28,  38,  90,  118,  126,  153, 

172-173,  209,  233,  256 
Library  meetings,  206-207 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  191 
Lindly,  Jacob,  143 
Lindsly,  Philip,  129,  142,  144 
Livermore,  Samuel,  52-56 
Livingston,   Peter  Van  Brugh,   13 
Lockwood,  James,  36 
Log  College,  8-n,    13-14,   17-18. 

36 
Lotteries,   42-44 


M 
McCosH  HALL,  256 


VlcCosh,  President  James,  40,  115, 
181-182,  195-226 

Mcllvaine,  Bloomfield,  135 

Mcllvaine,  Charles  Pettit,  135 

Maclean,  President  John,  116,  135, 
140,  142,  144-146,  I49-IS3,  >6l, 
164,  168-169,  171,  177,  179-182, 
184-185,  187-189,  191-193 

Maclean,  John,  professor  of  chemis- 
try, 116,  122,  128 

Macloskie,  George,  206 

McMillan,  Charles,  206 

Macwhorter,  Alexander,  41,  106 

Madison  Hall,  259 

Madison,  James,  67,  71,  74-75,  78, 
95^97,  105,  152,  207,  255,  259 

Magie,  William  F.,  206 

Marquand,  Allan,  206 

Marquand  Chapel,  2IO 

Martin,  Alexander,  41,  74 

Martin,  Luther,  74 

"Merwick",  252 

Military  companies,  in  Revolution, 
87;  Mercer  Guards,  159;  Nassau 
Cadets,  189;  Princeton  Blues, 
161,  164 

Minto,  Walter,  92 

Moffat,  James  Clement,  193 

Morris,  Lewis,  11,  12 

"Morven  ",  3,  85 

Mudge,  Lewis  W.,  201 

Murray  Hall,  210 

Murray,  James  Ormsby,  206,  214 


N 


NASSAU  HAUL,  6,  26-29,  70-71,  87- 
90,  95-96,  104,  113,  118-119, 
132-133,  136-138,  173,  i8',  l83- 
185,  256 


267 


INDEX 


Nassau  Inn,  29,  100,  131 
Nassau  Street,  5 

Natural    history,    introduction    of, 
"5 

O 

OGDEN,  AARON,  105 
Ormond,  Alexander  T.,  206 
Orrery,  Rittenhouse's,  81 
Orris,  S.  Stanhope,  206 
Osborn,  Henry  Fairfield,  206,  208 


PACKARD,  WILLIAM  A.,  205 
Palmer  Memorial  Stadium,  259 
Palmer  Physical  Laboratory,  256 
Paterson,  William,  67,  74,  109 
Patton,  President  Francis  Landey, 

206,  225-231,  234-238,  240,  258 
Pemberton,  Ebenezer,  10-11,  13,  17 
Philadelphian    Society,    184,    210, 

218 

Philosophical  Hall,  126,  155 
Physical  education,  254-255 
Pierson,  John,  10,  13 
Plain  Dealing  Club,  66-67 
Poe,  John  Prentiss,  Jr.,  255 
Polers'  recess,  182 
Potter,  Nathaniel,  54 
Power  plant,  240,  256 
Pranks,  160,  182 
Prayer  hall,  39,  96,  104,  116,  121, 

133,  137,  H6,  171-172,  185 
Preceptorial  method,  244-247,  250, 

256 

Princeton,  Battle  of,  9,  39,  70,  88 
Princeton    Theological    Seminary, 

25,  123-124,  195,  225,  234, 258 
Princeton  University  Press,  257 


Princeton  village,  founding,  1-5 ; 
origin  of  name,  5-6;  location  of 
college  at,  17-18,  23-26;  ad- 
vantages, 24-25 ;  educational  in- 
stitutions, 25-26;  national 
capital,  70,  95-108 ;  taverns,  99- 
102;  town  and  gown  fights,  162- 
165;  incorporation,  171 

Procter,  William  Cooper,  253-254 

"Prospect",  96,  159-160,  210,  227, 
252-253 

Publications:  Bric-a-Brac,  218; 
Nassau  Herald,  218;  Nassau  Lit- 
erary Magazine,  174,  218;  Nassau 
Rake,  182-183,  213;  Princeton 
Alumni  Weekly,  233;  Prince- 
Ionian,  218;  Procs,  183;  Tiger, 
218;  Whang-Doodle,  183 

Public  service,  Princeton  men  in, 
69-76,  83-85,  94-95,  97,  105- 
106,  109,  147,  152,  156-158,  174- 
175,  178,  186-188,  255,  261 

Pyne,  M.  Taylor,  3,  221 

Pyne,  Upper  and  Lower,  206 


QUAD  PLAN,  248-250 


R 


RAYMOND,  GEORGE  L.,  206 
Rebellions,  student,   112,   116-119, 

121,  128,  136-138,  140,  145-146, 

179 
Refectory,  32-33,  59,  61-62,    126, 

130,  241 
Religious  life,   135,  203;  societies, 

184,  210,  218 
Reunion  Hall,  173,  209 


268 


INDEX 


Revolution,    American,    Princeton 

in,  45-46,  70-79,  82-91 
Rice,  John  H.,  142 
Riots,  student,  116,  121,  213-214 
Rockwood,  Charles  G.,  206 
Rodeers,  John,  105 
Rush,  Benjamin,  41,  72,  84 
Rush,  Jacob,  41 


SAGE,  MRS.  RUSSELL,  259 
Saint  Paul's  Society,  218 
Schanck,  John  Stillwell,  193 
"Schism,  the  Great  ",  9-11 
Science,  18,  81,  115-116,  119,  123, 

154,  2OO-2O3,  2II-2I2,  240 

Science,  John  C.  Green  School  of, 

209,  211-212,  240,  260 
Scott,  Joseph  Warren,  200 
Scott,  William  B.,  206,  208 
Scott,  Winfield,  134 
Scribner,  Charles,  257 
Self-government,      student,      240- 

241 

Senior  Council,  218,  241,  244 
Seventy-nine  Hall,  240 
Shields,  Charles  Woodruff,  193 
Shippen,  Joseph,  51-52,  54 
Slack,  Elijah,  129,  137 
Sloane,  William  M.,  206 
Smith,  Caleb,  15 
Smith,  Herbert  S.  S.,  206 
Smith,  Jonathan  Bayard,  106 
Smith,  President  Samuel  Stanhope, 

92-93,   106,   112,  114-117,  121- 

127 

Smith,  William,  13 
Smith,  William  Peartree,  13,  105 
"Smoking  out  ",  182-183,  213 


Southern     affiliation,     93,      185- 

191 

Spcir,  Francis,  205,  207-208 
Spencer,  Elihu,  105 
Stafford  Little  Hall,  233 
Stamp  Act,  46-47,  77 
Stanhope  Hall,  126 
Stewards,  college,  6,  31-33 
Stewart,  John  A.,  257 
Stockton,    Richard    "the    Duke", 

147 
Stockton,   Richard   "the   Signer", 

21-22,  45-46,  72,  83-85 
Swann  bequest,  251-253 
Synod  of  New  York,  7,  1 1 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  9,  1 1 


TAMENUND,  CHIEF,  5 
Tarkington,  Booth,  221,  226 
Taverns,  99-102,  130-131 
"Tea  Party",  Princeton,  79 
Telegraph,  Joseph  Henry's  inven- 
tions, 155 
Tennent,  Gilbert,    10,    13,   17,  28, 

36,48 

Tennent,  William,  8-9,  13,  17 
Thane,  Daniel,  20 
Theological  department,  123 
Thompson,  Ferris,  259 
Thomson  College,  251,  253 
Torrey,  John,  151,  153-154,  173 
Town  and  gown  fights,  162-165 
Treat,  Robert,  13,  17 
Trustees,  13-14,  18,  113,  119,  122- 
124,  133-134,  14°.  144,  I48-I49> 
151,  170,  233,  248-249,  251,  253- 
254,  260 
"Tusculum",  85,93,  in 


269 


INDEX 


u 

UNIVERSITY  HALL,  210 
University  idea,  18-19,  224;  title, 

231 
University  Offices,  126 


VETHAKE,  HENRY,   140-141,   150- 

151,  154 
Vivarium,  256 

W 

WARD,  MATTHIAS,  176 
Warfield,  Benjamin  B.,  208 
Washington,    George,     39-40,    71, 

74,  86-88,  95-97,  103-105,  107- 

109 
Wellford,  Beverley  Randolph,  Jr., 

175 

Well  Meaning  Club,  66-67 
West,  Andrew  F.,   23,   206,   231- 

233,  238,  244,  251,  254,  258 


West  College,  29,  153,  173,  201 

Westcott,  John  H.,  206 

Whig  Society,  American,  66-69, 
173,  184,  230 

Whitefield,  George,  7,  10,  37 

William  III,  King,  6 

Williams,  Jesse  Lynch,  233 

Willson,  Frederick  N.,  206 

Wilson,  President  Woodrow,  31, 
72,  76,  225,  235,  237-238,  245- 
246,  249,  251-252,  254-256 

Winans,  Samuel  R.,  206 

\Vitherspoon  Hall,  210 

Witherspoon,  James,  89 

Witherspoon,  President  John,  40, 
72,  76,  79-95,  103,  106-107,  i  io- 
iii,  115,  148,  156,  200,  207 

\Voodhull,  John,  105 

Wyman,  Isaac  Chauncey,  254 


YALE,    7-9,    13,    17-18,    73, 

185,  195,  231,  260 
Young,  Charles  A.,  206 


141, 


270 


